Hardware Engineering Program Manager
San Francisco, CA
R&D /
Full Time /
Hybrid
About Charm
Our mission is to reverse climate change and return the atmosphere to 280 ppm CO₂, profitably. We convert waste biomass into carbon-rich bio-oil and inject it into permanent, underground storage as carbon removal, or reform the bio-oil to produce syngas for fossil-free steel.
Our carbon removal pathway took off in 2020 with initial purchases from customers like Stripe, Shopify & Microsoft. In 2021 and 2022 we delivered thousands of tons of carbon removal via off-the-shelf pathways, and also deployed our first R&D prototype pyrolyzer of our own. In the next 18 months, we'll build and deploy the next pyrolyzer revision, demonstrate our fossil-free ironmaking pilot, substantially expand our operations in Colorado and put thousands of tonnes of CO₂e underground.
We're looking to expand our team of ambitious creative and hands-on engineers, fabricators, operators, and forward-thinking humans. We value psychological safety and collaboration. We take calculated risks and don't sweep mistakes under the rug; instead, we pin them to the wall and learn from them. We value that everyone’s unique backgrounds and perspectives shape their work. We encourage you to read our company values.
Come help us reverse climate change. Gigatons or bust!
About the Role
Charm is looking for an Hardware Engineering Program Manager to join our team to lead development efforts for our next generation pyrolyzers, from prototype through production. In this role, you’ll work cross functionally across various teams including engineering, operations, facilities, supply chain, and test eng. You’ll be responsible for defining and tracking critical program milestones and metrics, managing business and technology risks, and establishing clear priorities for team members.
Responsibilities:
- Bring context and a holistic perspective to cross-functional teams to ensure they’re working around the right set of requirements and constraints when developing solutions.
- Track key metrics such as $/Tonne of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) as well as CDR produced per day, and evaluate the prioritization of work based on the largest impact to these key metrics.
- Support teams in breaking down major program milestones into individual projects with associated deliverables and schedules, using your previous background in hardware development to mitigate risks.
- Proactively identify initiatives that are likely to fail and work with teams to develop alternative plans and solutions.
- Create clarity, alignment, and communication around key decisions that will affect the outcome of the program.
- Implement new processes to keep teams working efficiently and bring visibility to program progress such as change management systems, Phase gate reviews, status tracking, and decision documents.
- Occasional travel (about once per month) to our Colorado office is expected.
Requirements:
- At least 7+ years of experience.
- Excited about joining a startup and a chance to pivot into climate.
- Doer with a strong sense of ownership - you understand your role is not just note-taker, risk manager, and taskmaster but rather your responsibility is to relentlessly drive progress forward.
- Experience completing at least one full hardware development cycle in a fast paced environment.
- Experience interfacing with mechanical, electrical, software, finance, supply chain and operations teams, and tracking dependencies between them.
- Clear understanding of the critical path and ability to articulate priorities and the why behind them to team members.
- Depth of experience developing detailed schedules, and tracking those in commonly used software suites like JIRA.
- Strong organization and communication skills.
- A desire to improve our processes to make work easier for our team.
- A clear voice for when a task is misestimated or misprioritized.
Bonus (but not required):
- 3+ years of experience as project or program manager
- Experience building resource-based schedules
- Engineering or mechatronics background
$130,000 - $190,000 a year
The anticipated salary range is $130 - $190k, dependent on factors such as experience within the job, within the industry, education, etc
What We Offer
· Stock options
· Health benefits (medical, dental, vision)
· Traditional and Roth 401(k) with a 50% match on contributions up to 6%
· Paid time off, including parental leave
- A yearly professional development stipend
· Healthy snacks and lunches for onsite employees
- A sweet workplace with lots of space inside and out
· A chance to pivot into a role in climate!
Visa Sponsorship Policy
Since we are a small startup, certain accommodations for visa sponsorship may not be within our capability. At this time, Charm Industrial is only sponsoring E3 and TN visas.
Our Commitment
Charm Industrial is an equal opportunity employer with a firm commitment to growing our team in an inclusive way, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, medical condition, age, or veteran status. The consequences of climate change inherently affect some more than others, and we need a diverse team to help us save our little planet most effectively & justly. We are excited about all of those who choose to apply, and for those who end up joining us, to see how you better us as a team and company. We are more than the sum of our parts.
