Technical Program Manager at Dandelion

📍 Location: Somerville, MA 👥 Team: R&D 🧭 Reports to: VP of Product 💼 Type: Full-time (exempt) 📌 JOB DETAILS Dandelion Energy is seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Technical Program Manager (TPM) to join our R&D team. This role will be integral to developing, testing, and launching geothermal systems that are optimized for production home builders and significantly accelerate the adoption of geothermal in the US new construction market. The TPM is responsible for ensuring that Dandelion's R&D initiatives are delivered on time, on budget, and with high quality. This position sits at the intersection of product, engineering, operations, and vendor management, driving execution across our key technical programs. You'll work closely with engineering, product, and key manufacturing partners to keep projects on track and remove barriers to progress. As part of a small, high-impact team, you'll also contribute to shaping our R&D vision, strategy, and roadmap — bringing a rigorous, execution-focused perspective to how we prioritize and resource our work. 🛠️ RESPONSIBILITIES EXECUTION & DELIVERY - Drive delivery on key R&D initiatives — on time, on budget, and with high quality. - Align strategy and roadmap with a feasible executional approach, forcing tradeoffs where necessary and collaborating with product and engineering to find the right balance of speed, cost, and quality. - Maximize the effectiveness and impact of R&D resources, including people, budget, and vendors. SCHEDULE & RISK MANAGEMENT - Develop and manage master schedules for key projects, integrating with vendors and internal teams across Dandelion. - Identify risks to execution early and develop proactive mitigation plans. VENDOR MANAGEMENT - Build and maintain strong relationships with key manufacturing and technical vendors. - Drive execution across technical workstreams and hold vendors accountable to a high standard of work. ISSUE TRACKING & BUDGET - Organize and prioritize open issues, ensuring the right items are resolved to enable progression through the development lifecycle. - Manage project costs proactively, generate early cost estimates, and deliver projects on budget — or flag early when risks arise. TEAM & OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE - Create visibility into how the engineering team's time is allocated and drive effective resource planning that ensures roadmap feasibility. - Ensure team meetings run effectively, capture notes and decisions, and maintain cadence for updating tools and systems. CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION - Work across Dandelion's internal departments and with industry-leading manufacturing partners to deliver next-generation geothermal solutions. - Collaborate closely with Product on vision, roadmap prioritization, and execution decisions. 🎯 WE’RE LOOKING FOR: - Track record of strong execution in bringing hardware products to market - Strong communication and collaboration skills - Comfort with ambiguity and a proactive, self-directed mindset - Curiosity, ownership, and a bias toward action - Passion for sustainability or mission-driven work - A positive, team-first mentality - Open to occasional travel to support projects ✅ MUST-HAVES - 5-8 years of experience in technical program or project management in a hardware product development environment - Bachelor's or Master's degree in a technical field - Demonstrated experience managing complex technical programs or projects in a hardware product development environment - Strong project and schedule management skills, with experience using tools like Smartsheet, Jira, Asana, or similar - Ability to engage substantively with engineering teams on technical tradeoffs and feasibility - Experience managing external vendors or manufacturing partners - Solid problem-solving skills with strong attention to detail - Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment - Strong written and verbal communication skills The ideal candidate may not have every skill listed above — we are looking for a highly motivated individual who wants to make a real-world impact. 🌟 BONUS POINTS FOR: - Experience in the geothermal, HVAC, or clean tech space - Prior experience at a startup and/or company with fewer than 1,000 employees - PMP certification or equivalent formal project management training 🌼 ABOUT DANDELION Dandelion Energy is transforming how homes are heated and cooled—starting from (below) the ground up. As the nation’s leading residential geothermal company, we design, install, and maintain all-in-one heating and cooling systems that are cleaner, quieter, more affordable, and up to 4× more efficient than traditional HVAC. Our focus is on large, enterprise deployments with major homebuilders, helping bring geothermal to more homes, faster. Backed by Google Ventures (GV) and other top tech investors, our end-to-end geothermal solution is challenging the status quo in residential heating and cooling. We’re scaling strategically and intentionally to meet growing demand. Our mission is simple and bold: to make geothermal the default choice for heating and cooling in the U.S. 🌳 WHY DANDELION Dandelion Energy is at the forefront of the transition to clean, efficient home energy. Our team has delivered thousands of high-quality geothermal installations across the country, helped elevate geothermal heat pumps nationally, and played a meaningful role in advancing electrification-friendly policy at both the local and federal levels. We’re a multidisciplinary, mission-driven team spanning hardware engineering, HVAC, drilling, solar finance, behavioral economics, and startup operations. Together, we’re building something complex, impactful, and designed to scale … work that directly shapes how homes are powered for decades to come. At Dandelion, you’ll find a collaborative, fast-paced, and inclusive culture where curiosity, ownership, and cross-functional teamwork are core to how we operate. Our nationwide team is united by a shared commitment to sustainability and a belief that clean, affordable heating and cooling should be the standard. We’re driving a wholesale shift in how homes are heated and cooled. Join us. 🎁 BENEFITS & PERKS - Medical (including mental health), dental, vision, and pet insurance - 401(k) plan - Commuter benefits - Generous paid sick leave, vacation, and parental leave - Learning & development support, including on-the-job training and virtual courses - Pet insurance