Customer Technical Program Manager, Vehicle OS

About the role

We are standing up a dedicated, Detroit-based program team to deliver a flagship software program for a major global automotive OEM. We are looking for a Customer Technical Program Manager to own customer-facing program management, milestones, cross-functional coordination, and reporting, working directly with the customer’s program leadership and across Applied’s engineering organization.

This is a builder role on a new team. You will translate ambiguous customer requests into tracked, executable work, coordinate delivery across Applied’s capability-based engineering teams, and serve as a primary point of contact for the customer on schedule, risks, and dependencies. The role reports to the Customer Program Lead. This role is 5 days onsite in our Ann Arbor, MI office.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Own the customer-facing program, define and maintain the program baseline including milestones, scope boundaries, risk register, and dependency map in alignment with the Statement of Work. Ensure program commitments are tracked with rigor and deviations are surfaced proactively

• Drive delivery coordination across Applied's engineering organization through Engineering TPMs, managing cross-team dependencies and competing priorities across concurrent programs

• Serve as the primary interface to the customer's program leadership and counterpart TPMs on all matters related to schedule, risk, and technical dependencies. Build and maintain trusted working relationships at the program level

• Own and operate the full program governance cadence across all recurring touchpoints with the customer and internal teams

• Define, own, and report program-side KPIs to the Customer Program Lead and internal stakeholders. Maintain a clear and accurate picture of program health at all times.

• Own resolution of program-level issues and decisions through structured escalation management, triaging issues by impact and urgency, driving resolution at the appropriate level

• Partner with onsite teams to ensure seamless integration of Applied's product into the customer's vehicle program. Own coordination and governance of all customer-facing field activities through the program

We're looking for someone who has:

• 5+ years in technical program management within the automotive industry, ideally with hands-on experience at an OEM or Tier-1 supplier

• Strong customer-facing presence at director level; comfortable representing Applied Intuition independently with OEM program leadership and executive stakeholders

• Proven ability to coordinate delivery across multiple engineering teams, managing through prioritization frameworks and clear escalation discipline

• Technical depth sufficient to assess feasibility, interpret requirements, and engage engineers credibly across all software vehicle and integration domains

• Builder mindset: able to set up program structure from scratch on a newly formed team

• A minimum of a Bachelor's degree in STEM or a related field

Nice to have:

• Prior experience in a startup or high-growth environment

• Familiarity with automotive development standards (ASPICE, ISO 26262, AUTOSAR).

• Experience with defect management at scale and severity-based SLA tracking

• Background in series production programs or Vehicle OS / IVI / ADAS platform delivery

• Experience managing the requirements lifecycle (decomposition, traceability, change control) on a customer-facing program

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary, equity, and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package, which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, 401k retirement benefits with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, interview performance, and the level and scope of the position.

Please reference the job posting’s subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the location listed is: $160,000 - $250,000 USD annually based on various variables.