Program Manager

[ABOUT ISTARI DIGITAL]

Istari is a digital engineering software company enabling our customers to turn the physical world into the digital to accomplish their specific mission or business objectives.

Istari was founded with the vision of making open, scalable digital engineering ecosystems a reality – where new technologies and systems are created digitally, free from the real-world constraints of costs and schedules. We are creating the world’s best engineering model sharing platform, allowing our customers to simply and securely integrate their models across different engineering disciplines, organizations, and security levels.

At Istari, we are passionate about our mission of creating the world's first open and scalable industrial metaverse. Whether our customers are designing prototypes, performing virtual testing, or training AI and autonomy for complex systems, we know that going digital will save them time, resources, and reduce their environmental impact.  

While we are a distributed team with most team-members working remotely, we place an emphasis on staying connected and collaborative, prioritizing in-person opportunities to build trust as a team. At Istari, we still believe that trust is best built in-person. To do this, we have an engineering headquarters in Cambridge, MA for focused technical development and several times per year we gather for an off-site that allows us to develop our professional skills and our team relationships.

[VALUES]

At Istari, we live by our values, which include:

Purposeful Autonomy

We value letting people self-organize and self-motivate. 

Our flat structure and lack of meeting clutter are meant to empower individuals and teams to be proactive.

Our autonomy is measured, goal-oriented, and results-driven – not meandering.

Clear objectives help us prioritize our time.

Smart Transparency

We believe in honest-but-kind communication, transparency, and open-door policies.

We love learning about challenges and tackling them early, not hearing good or bad news late.

We share work-in-progress across our team. 

Fast feedback keeps autonomy purposeful.

Continual Curiosity

At Istari, we love learning to do things ourselves.

We ask, read, share, teach – even watch YouTube videos – to learn new skills to solve problems.

When we make breakthroughs, we write them down.   

Writing focuses ideas, helps us learn, and helps us share.

Equal Opportunity

Istari is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status, or disability status.

Istari is seeking a skilled and driven Program Manager to oversee the successful execution of up to four concurrent programs. These programs span technical and strategic domains and are critical to advancing our impact across federal and commercial sectors. The ideal candidate is a systems thinker with exceptional organizational skills and a strong sense of ownership over program outcomes. This role demands an ability to manage complexity across multiple threads while ensuring rigorous attention to cost, schedule, performance, and risk.

The selected Program Manager will report to senior leadership and be responsible for the day-to-day and long-term success of assigned programs—from kickoff through final delivery. They will work closely with cross-functional teams including Engineering, Customer Success, Product, and Cybersecurity, and act as the connective tissue between execution and vision.

Key Responsibilities

• Program Management Excellence: Manage multiple high-priority programs simultaneously, each with its own set of deliverables, stakeholders, and strategic objectives. Lead program planning, schedule development, budget tracking, and risk management activities across all assigned programs. Coordinate with internal teams to ensure workstreams stay aligned and dependencies are managed. Establish clear reporting mechanisms for program status, risks, and key decisions. Develop and maintain integrated program plans and drive execution across all lifecycle stages.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Serve as the primary interface between Istari and external stakeholders, including government and commercial partners. Align program execution with contract requirements and customer expectations. Prepare and deliver high-quality briefings, status updates, and decision support materials to sponsors and senior leadership. Collaborate with Sales, Product, and the rest of the Customer Success team to ensure programs support long-term adoption, value delivery, and client satisfaction.
• Risk, Performance & Process Rigor: Identify, assess, and mitigate program risks through proactive planning and agile decision-making. Track and report on program performance against contractual and internal milestones. Support continuous improvement efforts across program workflows, applying lessons learned to future initiatives. Ensure quality of deliverables, timeliness, and resource alignment across programs.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Engineering, Business, Systems Management, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience managing complex programs in the defense, technology, or government sectors.
• Demonstrated success overseeing cost, schedule, and performance for multiple concurrent projects.
• Strong command of program planning, stakeholder engagement, and risk management best practices.
• Exceptional communication and coordination skills, with the ability to synthesize information across disciplines.
• Experience managing contracts, subcontractors, and performance-based deliverables.
• Eligible for U.S. Government security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Earned Value Management (EVM), critical path method (CPM), and.or program dashboarding tools.
• Familiarity with DoD or federal acquisition frameworks and programmatic reporting standards.
• PMP, PgMP, or other program management certifications.
• Experience with technical programs involving secure networks, digital engineering, or software development lifecycles.
• Proven ability to build trust and deliver results in fast-paced, mission-driven environments.

BENEFITS

We offer highly competitive benefits, including:

Health and Family

- Medical/Dental/Vision

- Employee Premiums are 100% Company Paid

- Life Insurance

- Flexible Work Hours 

- Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO) with federal government holidays

Financial

- Competitive Compensation 

- 401k 

- Company Stock Options

- Home Office Setup Budget

Learning

- Reimbursement for approved trainings and subscriptions

- Conferences (travel, lodging, and fees)

Note - some benefits are not available to interns or contractors.

Thank you for your interest in Istari. Expect to hear back from us soon with next steps.