Staff TPM, Software

Job description

# About Neurophos The demand for new data centers and AI compute is rapidly outpacing the planet's energy capacity. Digital solutions are hitting a power wall as we approach the physical limits of traditional silicon. Conquering this bottleneck means rethinking the fundamental architecture of inference compute. The industry's current path can't meet the need, so we're taking a different approach. Instead of traditional electronic circuits, we use silicon photonics and an active, programmable metasurface to perform matrix multiplications at the speed of light. Our optical cells are 10,000x smaller than traditional photonic components, enabling unprecedented density. By using photonics instead of electricity, our chips become more efficient as they scale. This architecture will deliver up to 100 times the energy efficiency of existing solutions while significantly improving performance for large-scale AI inference. We’ve assembled a world-class team of industry veterans and recently raised a [$110M Series A](https://www.neurophos.com/110m-raise) led by Gates Frontier. Participants include M12 (Microsoft’s Venture Fund), Carbon Direct Capital, Aramco Ventures, Bosch Ventures, Tectonic Ventures, Space Capital, and others. Join us and shape the future of computing! ## Position Overview We are seeking an experienced Technical Program Manager to own execution across our software organization. At Neurophos, software leads hardware. Firmware, compilers, runtime, and tooling must be ready before the silicon and optics they target arrive, built against virtual platforms, simulators, and emulation. That is how we de-risk every hardware milestone. This job is about protecting and extending that lead. The more lead software builds, the more room the program has to run on an agile cadence. You will run the ceremonies that keep teams moving sprint to sprint and produce the forward-looking forecasts that chief engineers and executive management plan against. You will make the case, with data, for shifting the hybrid further toward an agile model. TPMs here are not scorekeepers. You will own real programs, surface risks, drive them to closure, and see your judgment reflected directly in product decisions. ## **Location** Austin, TX. Full-time onsite position. ## Key Responsibilities Program Execution - Operate SCRUM inside a hybrid scrum-fall program structure, keeping software delivery ahead of hardware availability rather than gated by it. - Build and maintain forward-looking completion forecasts with explicit confidence levels and stated assumptions, rather than status snapshots of work already done. - Run agile ceremonies for software teams and keep them useful rather than ritualistic. - Track and report how far ahead software is running relative to hardware, and treat any erosion of that lead as a first-order program risk. - Identify, quantify, and escalate schedule and technical risk early, and drive it to resolution with named owners and dates. - Maintain program-level planning artifacts and reporting that engineers trust and leadership can act on. Cross-Functional Coordination - Manage cross-team dependencies across software, hardware, and cloud, and make the critical path visible to everyone on it. - Work directly with chief engineers and executive management to ensure commitments are grounded in what teams can actually deliver. - Drive scope and sequencing decisions when hardware milestones shift, and clearly communicate the downstream impact. - Advocate for shifting the hybrid further toward agile wherever software's lead makes it possible, and build the evidence that makes the case. ## Qualifications - 8+ years of professional experience in technical program management. - Program management experience at a semiconductor, systems, or hardware company where software ships alongside physical product. - Familiarity with compiler, runtime, or firmware development programs. Experience with cloud software development/deployment is a plus. - Demonstrated experience deploying SCRUM in a hybrid scrum-fall environment, where agile software delivery must align with waterfall hardware or program milestones. - Proven track record running agile ceremonies and generating forward-looking forecasts of completion and risk. - Hands-on proficiency with modern engineering planning and tracking tools (Jira, Linear, or equivalent), including configuring workflows and building reporting that engineers trust and actually use. - Ability to engage credibly with engineers on technical details and to translate that detail into program-level decisions. - Proven ability to absorb complex architectures and designs quickly. Able to establish domain-specific understanding in a design review across unfamiliar technical areas. - Bachelor's degree in an engineering or scientific discipline. Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering preferred. ## Preferred Skills - Experience managing programs through tape-out, bring-up, or comparable hard-date engineering milestones. - Experience leveraging AI to manage very large and complex programs, including planning, dependency analysis, forecasting, and risk surfacing at a scale that defeats manual tracking. - Master's degree in an engineering or scientific discipline, or an MBA. - Formal certification or training in Scrum, SAFe, or an equivalent framework. - Familiarity with LLM architectures and their computational requirements. # What We Offer This is an opportunity to play a pivotal role in an innovative startup redefining the future of AI hardware. Work on game-changing technology at the intersection of photonics and AI as part of a collaborative, brilliant team. You’ll contribute to a platform that redefines computational performance and accelerates the future of artificial intelligence. Come help us bring this transformative technology to the world. ## Benefits Join a team that invests in your future and your well-being. At Neurophos, we offer: - 100% coverage of base health plan premiums for you and your dependents, plus HSA contributions. - Unlimited PTO. No rigid vacation banks, just a focus on delivery. - 401(k) matching and stock option opportunities to ensure our success is your success. - Full suite of voluntary benefits, including Dental, Vision, Life, Hospital, Critical Illness, and Accident insurance. - Personalized Benefits. Choose the plans that fit your life and take the cash back for those that don’t.