Senior Program Manager, New Product Introduction

About Aether

Aether engineers enzymes and uses them to make materials that are difficult or impossible to produce any other way. The long-term goal is to manufacture more or less anything, quickly and cheaply, anywhere, by drawing on a few billion years of evolution rather than inventing the chemistry from scratch. Today that work pays for itself through advanced print materials. These are shipping into defense and unmanned systems, with revenue and strong customer feedback. Aether is a Series A company that has raised a little over $60M, with a small team based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The role

Aether is moving new materials from the lab to commercial production. This role owns the process that gets them there. You’ll run Aether’s manufacturing readiness stage-gate process, which takes each product from lab scale through scale-up, technology transfer to contract manufacturing partners, and commercial launch.

You’ll be the program lead across that whole path. You’ll work with research and development, process engineering, quality, contract manufacturing operations, and the commercial team, so that each product reaches market ready to be made reliably at scale. The framework already exists. The job now is to put it into practice: run it, refine it, and make it the way Aether launches products.

This is one of the first hires in a new manufacturing organization, so you’ll help decide how Aether brings products to market for years to come.

What you’ll do

• Run Aether’s stage-gate process from lab scale through commercial launch, including gate reviews, readiness criteria, and decisions on whether a product moves forward.

• Build and maintain integrated launch plans covering development, scale-up, technology transfer, qualification, and commercial readiness.

• Coordinate across R&D, process engineering, quality, contract manufacturing operations, supply chain, and commercial, so that handoffs are clear and nothing falls through.

• Partner with quality and process engineering to build quality into technology transfer from the start.

• Identify risks early, drive them to resolution, and keep leadership informed of program status and tradeoffs.

• Refine the stage-gate process as Aether’s product portfolio grows.
  

What you bring

• 8+ years of program management experience in hardware, chemicals, materials, batteries, or similar product industries.

• A track record of taking products from development through commercial launch.

• Experience building or substantially shaping a new product introduction or stage-gate process, not only working within one.

• The ability to lead people who don’t report to you, across both technical and business teams.

• Strong systems thinking and organizational skills.

• Experience in a fast-paced or early-stage environment.

Nice to have

• BS+ in chemical engineering or another technical field.

• Experience launching products made by contract manufacturers.

• Experience with polymers or materials.

Note

The pay range for this role is $130,000 to $180,000 per year plus equity, with final compensation based on skills and experience.

Aether is committed to building an inclusive and diverse workplace. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender identity or expression, marital or civil-partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates throughout the recruitment process. If you require any adjustments to participate fully in interviews or assessments, please let us know and we will work with you to support your needs.