Technical Program Manager, Software

Gatik AI
Santa Clara, CA
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Geared toward candidates with technical program management experience in autonomous driving or safety-critical software, comfortable with managing complex release cycles and cross-functional collaboration in a hybrid work setup in Santa Clara, CA.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 4–5+ years of technical program management in complex software environments
    — “4–5+ years of technical program management experience managing complex software development and deployment cycles.”
  • Individuals with a background in autonomous driving or safety-critical systems
    — “Experience in autonomous driving, robotics, geospatial/mapping systems, or complex safety-critical software infrastructure.”
  • Candidates who can align cross-functional teams and manage release pipelines effectively
    — “Partner with Product Management, Software Engineering, and Test/V&V teams to establish clear release schedules, dependency maps, and delivery milestones.”

Things to consider

  • Hybrid/onsite work arrangement may require regular in-office presence in Santa Clara, CA
    — “This role is hybrid/onsite in our Santa Clara, CA office.”
  • Candidates must be able to manage software reliability and safety standards simultaneously
    — “maintaining software reliability and safety standards while driving rapid development velocity.”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience managing end-to-end software development lifecycles from PRD to production testing
    — “Deep understanding of software engineering workflows, agile release management, and requirement traceability from PRDs to production testing.”
  • Demonstrate cross-functional collaboration skills with teams like Product, Engineering, and Safety
    — “Partner closely with Autonomy Software Engineering, Mapping, Test Engineering, Product, and System Safety.”
  • Emphasize your ability to track delivery metrics and implement risk mitigation strategies
    — “Track software delivery metrics, flag technical blockers or safety risks, and implement robust risk mitigation plans.”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • successful software rollouts
  • maintaining software reliability and safety standards
Typical background
4-5+ years of technical program management experience

Skills & requirements

Required

Technical Program ManagementCross-functional CollaborationSoftware Development LifecycleRisk Management

Preferred

Autonomous DrivingRoboticsGeospatial Systems

Stack & domain

Autonomous DrivingRoboticsGeospatial/mapping SystemsComplex Safety-critical Software Infrastructure

About the role

Original posting from Gatik AI via Greenhouse

Who We Are

Gatik is in the business of autonomous freight, and that business is already on the road.

Every day, Gatik’s autonomous trucks move freight for Fortune 50 retailers, grocers and consumer brands across Texas, Arizona, Arkansas and Canada, connecting distribution centers and stores and keeping goods moving. At the heart of it all is the Gatik Driver™, our proprietary Level 4 autonomous driving system, powered by scalable, interpretable AI and engineered to deliver safe, reliable, high-frequency freight operations.

Gatik’s momentum is real. With more than $600 million in contracted revenue and $200 million raised in our August 2026 Series D round, Gatik has taken one of the toughest challenges in autonomous technology and turned it into a proven commercial business.

And the market is paying attention. In 2026, Gatik earned a place on Forbes' America's Best Startup Employers list, and the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies. The Gatik Driver™ won an Edison Award for Advancements in Autonomous Driving, and Inc. named our Co-founder and Chief Engineer, Apeksha Kumavat, to its Female Founders 500 list.

There's a lot more road ahead, and some of the brightest, most driven minds in autonomous technology are building the next chapter at Gatik. We're taking on hard engineering problems, pushing the limits of what's possible and building on a commercial foundation that's already proven itself in the real world with some of the biggest companies in the world, like PepsiCo and Loblaw. If you're ambitious, love solving problems that matter and want to see your work make a real difference, you'll find plenty to get excited about here.

About the Role

Gatik is looking for a detail-oriented and collaborative Technical Program Manager - Software to drive the execution and release cycles for our core autonomy software and mapping platform. In this role, you will oversee the full software lifecycle from Product Requirement Definitions (PRDs) through feature specification, software architecture requirements, and release validation. Reporting to the Director of Technical Program Management, you will partner closely with Autonomy Software Engineering, Mapping, Test Engineering, Product, and System Safety to ensure seamless software rollouts. You will be instrumental in maintaining software reliability and safety standards while driving rapid development velocity.

This role is hybrid/onsite in our Santa Clara, CA office.

What You'll Do

Lead technical program management for Gatik’s core autonomy software suite and high-definition map release pipelines.

Drive the end-to-end software development lifecycle starting from product requirements (PRDs) down to feature scope, engineering requirements, and validation readiness.

Partner with Product Management, Software Engineering, and Test/V&V teams to establish clear release schedules, dependency maps, and delivery milestones.

Track software delivery metrics, flag technical blockers or safety risks, and implement robust risk mitigation plans.

Facilitate alignment across cross-functional software teams, safety engineers, and operations to ensure smooth deployment of software updates.

What We're Looking For

4–5+ years of technical program management experience managing complex software development and deployment cycles.

Experience in autonomous driving, robotics, geospatial/mapping systems, or complex safety-critical software infrastructure.

Deep understanding of software engineering workflows, agile release management, and requirement traceability from PRDs to production testing.

Exceptional cross-functional communication and risk-management capabilities.

Educational background in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related quantitative field.

Salary Range: $170,000-220,000

More about Gatik

Founded in 2017, Gatik has grown into a commercial force in autonomous freight, operating trucks daily in live customer networks across the United States and Canada. We're headquartered in Santa Clara, California, but our impact is felt on the roads and in the supply chains that keep essential goods moving for some of the biggest companies in North America.

Our trucks do some of the most demanding work in freight, running high-frequency, time-sensitive routes between distribution centers and stores, where reliability matters every single day. For our customers, that means more capacity, better service and products arriving where they need to be, when they need to be there.

Behind it all is AI-first technology built from the ground up for autonomous trucking, capable of navigating highways and surface streets and tackling the complexity of real-world logistics at scale.

Visit Gatik for more company information and Careers at Gatik for more open roles.

Notable News

For the latest company news, visit the Gatik newsroom.

Recent media coverage:

TechCrunch: Self-driving truck startup Gatik raises $200M following PepsiCo deal

Reuters: Gatik secures $200 million in funding as autonomous freight market accelerates

Bloomberg: Driverless Trucks Can Save Lives on America's Roads

PepsiCo website: PepsiCo and Gatik announce multi-year agreement to deploy autonomous freight in North America

Wall Street Journal: Driverless Trucks Are Here - and They’re Delivering Bags of Doritos

CBS News: Pepsi deploys self-driving delivery trucks

Bloomberg: Autonomous Trucking Firm Gatik Inks Contracts Worth $600 Million

Forbes: Hundreds’ Of Gatik Robot Delivery Trucks Headed For U.S. Roads

CNBC-TV18: No more test runs: Gatik says driverless trucks are now a real, money-making business

Forbes: Gatik And Loblaw Announce Largest Commercial Deployment Of AV Trucks

Taking Care of Our Team

At Gatik, we connect people of extraordinary talent and experience to an opportunity to create a more resilient supply chain and contribute to our environment’s sustainability. We are diverse in our backgrounds and perspectives yet united by a bold vision and shared commitment to our values. Our culture emphasizes the importance of collaboration, respect and agility.

We at Gatik strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels they have opportunities to succeed and grow because we know that together we can do great things. We are committed to an inclusive and diverse team. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.

E-Verify Notice: By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Gatik participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security E-Verify program.

Source: Gatik AI careers (Greenhouse)

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