The Program Manager will oversee strategic federal accounts, ensure program success, maintain customer relationships, coordinate teams, drive planning, communicate progress, and identify growth opportunities, requiring strong program management and technical skills.
About Nominal
Nominal is building the connected test and operations platform powering the world's most advanced hardware systems—from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation defense programs. Our platform gives hardware engineering teams a single place to ingest data, analyze performance, automate test execution, and collaborate across every phase of development, so they can move faster without sacrificing safety or precision.
We serve top-tier commercial and defense customers, from autonomy leaders like Anduril and Shield AI to next-generation aerospace teams like Hermeus and REGENT, and performance engineering teams like Pratt Miller Motorsports, alongside mission partners within the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force on programs where failure isn’t an option.
We’re backed by Sequoia, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, and Lightspeed. Our team draws from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, and other leading companies, united by a common mission: giving hardware engineers the tools to build the future with speed, safety, and confidence.
🚀 About the role
We’re hiring a Program Manager to lead the execution and growth of Nominal’s most strategic Federal customer engagements, including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, NASA, and other critical agencies.
This role sits at the center of our federal accounts after contract award.
You will act as the programmatic hub across the Government customer, Nominal’s Federal Business Development team, Mission Operations, Engineering, Product, Legal, and Finance to ensure successful execution, strong customer relationships, and continued account expansion.
You’ll serve as the primary program owner responsible for ensuring customer success, coordinating delivery across internal teams, and helping Nominal grow its footprint with key government organizations.
This role combines technical program management, customer leadership, and operational coordination. You will work closely with engineering and mission operations teams to translate customer requirements into execution plans, guide deployments of Nominal’s platform, and ensure programs deliver measurable mission outcomes.
Own program success for strategic federal customers
- Serve as the central owner of program execution in key federal accounts. Ensure projects stay on track, internal teams are aligned, and customers experience clear and consistent value from Nominal’s platform.
Build strong relationships with government stakeholders
- Develop trusted working relationships with program offices and key stakeholders across government organizations. You’ll serve as a primary point of contact responsible for communicating progress, surfacing feedback, and maintaining alignment.
Coordinate cross-functional execution
- Work closely with Mission Operations, Product, Engineering, BD, Legal, and Finance to ensure programs run smoothly and customer needs are translated into clear execution plans.
Drive program planning and delivery
- Develop long-term execution plans, track milestones and deliverables, and ensure teams are aligned on timelines, priorities, and customer outcomes.
Communicate program success
- Proactively communicate program progress and impact to customers and internal stakeholders through updates, documentation, and reporting.
Identify opportunities for account growth
- Work closely with the Federal BD team to identify expansion opportunities, surface new use cases, and help position Nominal for follow-on work with existing customers.
Support technical deployments and implementations
- Partner with internal teams to translate mission requirements into clear deployment and execution plans, helping ensure successful adoption of Nominal’s platform.
🎯 We're Looking for Someone With
- 5+ years of experience in program management, technical delivery, or customer-facing roles in technology, defense, or government environments.
- Experience managing complex projects involving multiple stakeholders and cross-functional teams.
- Ability to build trusted relationships with customers while coordinating internal teams to deliver strong outcomes.
- Strong organizational and program management skills, including planning, milestone tracking, and risk management.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate technical execution into clear updates for both internal and external stakeholders.
- Comfort operating in fast-moving environments where roles and processes are still evolving.
- Willingness to travel up to 50%.
- Active TS/SCI clearance or the ability to obtain one is strongly preferred.
- Experience supporting government customers or mission-oriented organizations
- Background in defense technology, government technology, or national security environments
- Military service or prior experience supporting operational programs
- Experience managing technical deployments or product implementations
- Comfort operating at the intersection of technical teams, customers, and business leadership
✨ Benefits/Perks
- 🏥 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
- 🏖️ Unlimited PTO and sick leave
- 🍽️ Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
- 🚀 Professional Development Stipend
- 🛠️ In-office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend
- ✈️ Annual company retreat
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
ITAR Requirements
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
CompensationThe base pay range for this role is $150,000 – $210,000 per year.
Nominal Los Angeles, California, USA Office
Los Angeles, CA, United States
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