Staff Engineering Program Manager

heron-power· Engineering
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📍 Scotts ValleyFullTime

About this role

What to Expect

Heron Power is a startup company building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid. We aim to debottleneck the growth of electricity generation and consumption with scalable, innovative, and less costly hardware solutions, accelerating the electrification of everything.

Our first focus goal is to build better converters (inverters & rectifiers) to connect large-scale renewables, storage, and loads to the grid. Heron Power’s leadership team is made up of seasoned veterans who have designed and shipped gigawatts of power conversion products over the past decade.

We understand that no one individual knows everything. We will all learn a lot together and from each other. We strive to build a collaborative, enriching environment conducive to personal, technical, and career growth. You can expect to work in a dynamic and collaborative environment, driven by first principles engineering, solving difficult problems.

Job Overview

As Staff Engineering Program Manager for Heron Power’s next-generation power conversion platform, you will own the technical execution of the product roadmap from architecture through manufacturing launch.

This role is intentionally hands-on and technically deep. You will work directly with power electronics, firmware/software, systems integration, test, and reliability teams to translate architectural intent into executable plans, surface technical risks early, and ensure tight coordination and execution.

You are not just tracking schedules — you are expected to understand converter architectures, firmware control strategies, system-level tradeoffs, and validation requirements well enough to drive meaningful technical conversations, challenge assumptions, and help teams converge on sound decisions. This is a high-visibility role with real ownership, where you will help build Heron Power’s execution model and “no surprises” culture from the ground up.

How You Will Contribute

  • Own and drive the end-to-end technical execution of Heron Power’s first product launch, translating system-level goals into structured, engineering-driven milestones across concept, architecture, validation, and launch

  • Drive deep coordination between power electronics, firmware/software, and systems integration teams, ensuring hardware and control-software roadmaps are tightly aligned and risks at the interfaces are actively managed

  • Lead program planning and execution across hardware design, embedded firmware, controls, test, reliability, compliance, supply chain, and manufacturing, with a clear plan of record and critical-path ownership

  • Partner with technical leads to define product requirements, validation strategies, and decision gates, ensuring design tradeoffs are explicitly documented and understood across teams

  • Facilitate and contribute to technical design reviews, including architecture reviews, design readiness reviews, and validation readiness reviews, with sufficient depth to surface real risks

  • Own engineering BOM strategy and NPI readiness, working closely with power electronics engineers and supply chain to balance performance, cost, availability, and manufacturability

  • Establish and track DFMEA-driven risk management, ensuring risks across design, firmware behavior, system integration, and manufacturing are identified, mitigated, and retired

  • Be the steward of a “no surprises” culture: proactively surface technical and execution risks early, drive clarity, and ensure issues are addressed before they become program-blocking failures

  • Act as a force multiplier across the organization — increasing engineering velocity, reducing ambiguity at interfaces, and raising the bar on execution discipline without slowing innovation


What You Will Bring

We are looking for someone who combines strong program leadership with real technical credibility in power electronics systems. This role rewards people who are comfortable going deep, asking hard questions, and bridging disciplines.


Must-Have Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (power electronics focus strongly preferred) or equivalent demonstrated technical depth

  • 5+ years leading complex, multidisciplinary engineering programs, ideally involving power electronics, embedded firmware, or tightly coupled hardware-software systems

  • Strong technical foundation in power electronics systems, with the ability to understand converter architectures, control strategies, and system-level tradeoffs well enough to guide execution

  • Demonstrated ability to work deeply with firmware/software teams, including understanding control loops, timing constraints, interfaces, and hardware-software dependencies

  • Experience driving programs from concept through validation and manufacturing launch, including prototype builds and design iterations

  • Strong grasp of DFM principles and the realities of building, testing, and scaling power electronics hardware

  • Proven ability to distill complex technical programs into clear risks, decisions, and priorities for both engineering and leadership audiences

  • Comfortable operating in a fast-moving startup environment, with high ownership, ambiguity, and minimal process overhead

  • Excellent communication skills and the ability to influence across engineering, operations, and leadership teams


Nice-to-Have Qualifications

  • Hands-on experience designing, validating, or debugging inverters, rectifiers, or other high-power conversion systems

  • Experience with power electronics simulation and modeling tools (PLECS, MATLAB/Simulink)

  • Familiarity with embedded firmware development for power electronics or control systems

  • Proficiency with BOM ownership, PLM systems, change management, and NPI processes

  • Experience with UL / IEC compliance for power conversion equipment

  • Familiarity with Enovia PLM, CATIA, or similar tools

  • Proficiency with Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence) or similar technical program management platforms

If you are passionate about technology and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, we would love to hear from you. Join us in accelerating the electrification of everything at Heron Power.

Heron Power provides competitive compensation (salary and equity) and benefits. The salary for this role ranges from $150,000 to $200,000 per year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the salary disclosed for the Staff Engineering Program Manager position at heron-power?
The salary for this Staff Engineering Program Manager role at heron-power is not publicly listed. Click "Apply Now" to learn more about the compensation package on their official careers page.
Where is the Staff Engineering Program Manager position at heron-power located?
This Staff Engineering Program Manager role at heron-power is based in Scotts Valley. The position is listed as on-site or hybrid. Check the full job description or apply directly to confirm the work arrangement.
Is the Staff Engineering Program Manager role at heron-power full-time or part-time?
This is listed as a FullTime position. It is posted as a Staff Engineering Program Manager role in the Engineering department at heron-power.
Which team or department does the Staff Engineering Program Manager at heron-power belong to?
This Staff Engineering Program Manager position is part of the Engineering department at heron-power. See the full job description for more information about the team structure and responsibilities.
How do I apply for the Staff Engineering Program Manager position at heron-power?
Click the "Apply Now" button on this page. You will be redirected to heron-power's official application portal hosted on ashby where you can submit your application directly.
When was the Staff Engineering Program Manager job at heron-power posted?
This Staff Engineering Program Manager position at heron-power was posted on May 7, 2026. Apply as soon as possible — early applications are often reviewed first.
Staff Engineering Program Manager
heron-power
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