Technical Program Manager, U.S. Department of War

About Rivet

Rivet is an American company building integrated task systems — fusing hardened hardware with software, sensors, AI, and networking — for industrial workforces and defense personnel. We create capabilities that multiply the effectiveness of every individual and withstand the world’s toughest environments.

We serve the people who build, operate, maintain, and defend our way of life. From technicians and engineers to first responders and service members, they embody the hard work, ingenuity, and meritocratic values that drive Western prosperity. Yet too often they are forced to rely on outdated tools that fail under modern pressures. Rivet exists to reset that priority.

At Rivet, you’ll join a mission-driven team that fuses disciplines to deliver decisive outcomes where they matter most. Whether shaping our technology, strengthening our partnerships, or building our culture, every role here contributes to equipping the front lines with the modern systems they deserve.

Work Authorization Requirement: Due to the nature of our business and applicable contractual requirements, this position is restricted to U.S. citizens. Candidates must provide documentation verifying U.S. citizenship upon hire.

Role: Technical Program Manager, U.S. Department of War

Location: Washington, DC

Compensation*: $165,000-215,000 benefits

Role Summary

We're seeking a highly operational Technical Program Manager to drive execution for our U.S. Army SBMC program. This role sits within the PMO and partners closely with technical leadership, engineering teams, and senior stakeholders to ensure complex programs stay aligned, organized, and on track under demanding timelines.

You will own the operational heartbeat of the program: managing priorities, timelines, deliverables, risks, communication flows, technical requirements, and execution cadence across fast-moving technical workstreams. The ideal candidate is obsessive about organization, thrives under pressure, communicates with clarity, and creates structure in ambiguous environments where execution quality matters.

This person will develop a deep understanding of the program’s technical requirements, customer expectations, benchmarks, dependencies, and execution risks. They will ensure teams remain aligned around priorities and tradeoffs while maintaining operational systems that provide real-time visibility into program health and execution status.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage the full lifecycle of technical program execution across requirements, dependencies, milestones, risks, benchmarks, customer commitments, and deliverables
• Develop a deep understanding of system-level technical requirements and drive alignment across engineering teams on priorities, ownership, interfaces, timelines, and execution sequencing
• Identify technical and operational risks early, proactively driving mitigation plans, escalations, testing strategies, and reliability-focused execution before issues impact the program
• Drive technical tradeoff discussions and cross-functional decision-making by ensuring teams have the right context, constraints, and decision criteria to move quickly and effectively
• Own the operational backbone of the program, including Jira, Azure DevOps, documentation systems, status reporting, meeting cadence, and communication flows, ensuring real-time visibility into execution health, blockers, and risk areas
• Pull signal out of ambiguous, fast-moving workstreams and convert it into actionable plans, clear next steps, and structured execution across the organization
• Partner closely with Business Program Management to synthesize technical and program status into concise updates, briefings, and communications for leadership and government stakeholders
  
  

Role Requirements

• Exceptional organizational skills, operational discipline, and attention to detail, with the ability to manage highly complex technical programs across multiple teams simultaneously
• Strong technical intuition and systems thinking, including the ability to understand requirements, interfaces, dependencies, constraints, tradeoffs, and integration risks across complex systems; some software experience preferred
• Demonstrated ability to identify, assess, and mitigate technical and operational risks before they impact execution
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex technical information into clear updates for leadership, engineers, and government stakeholders
• Proven ability to drive alignment, accountability, and decision-making across cross-functional technical teams operating under pressure and ambiguity
• High ownership mindset with strong judgment, resourcefulness, and the ability to create structure, momentum, and clarity without formal authority or fully defined direction
• Experience operating and maintaining project management systems such as Jira, Azure DevOps, or equivalent tooling with high operational rigor and a genuine interest in workflow design, execution management, and operational craftsmanship
• U.S. citizenship required; active U.S. Security Clearance preferred; ability to obtain and maintain a clearance required
• Total compensation may vary within this range and is determined by years and level of relevant experience, job-related skills, education, and other factors. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for equity grants and other forms of compensation. Eligible employees also receive a competitive benefits package, including unlimited PTO.
  
  

EOE