Program Manager, Research

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Canada.

📋 Description

• Collaborate with research leaders to outline research programs, set priorities, formulate hypotheses, establish milestones, and define expected outcomes.

• Implement and manage the Research Portfolio & ROI Framework.

• Evaluate research investments based on ambition, uncertainty, impact, maturity, time frame, confidence, cost, and relevance to products.

• Develop evidence plans suitable for each stage, as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) and leading and lagging metrics.

• Establish operational rhythms that include regular evaluations, clearly assigned responsibilities, intermediate deliverables, decision-making points, and follow-up actions.

• Monitor research initiatives in relation to objectives and investments while allowing space for scientific exploration.

• Identify stalled projects, flawed assumptions, and diminishing returns at an early stage.

• Facilitate decisions regarding iterations, redirections, pauses, or cessation of work.

• Align research priorities with the company’s, product’s, and technical strategies.

• Interpret research progress into actionable decisions, implications, and trade-offs for Product, Engineering, and leadership teams.

• Assist in the successful transition of research into product capabilities, assets, or future strategic opportunities.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 5 years of experience as a product manager or program manager in technology or research organizations.

• Proficient in navigating highly technical, ambiguous, and exploratory environments.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical discipline.

• Thorough understanding of program management principles and practices.

• Capable of guiding ambiguous technical programs, making evidence-based decisions amidst uncertainty, and applying product thinking without limiting scientific exploration.

• Strong inclination towards action and rapid learning.

• Comfortable holding highly technical teams accountable for their commitments, decisions, and outcomes.

• Excellent written and verbal communication abilities.

• Adaptable to a fast-paced startup environment with a remote-first team.

• Driven by the goal of cultivating a research culture that merges scientific ambition with urgency, focus, accountability, and swift learning.

🏝️ Benefits

• Remote-first work with flexibility in structuring your day.

• High-trust, low-bureaucracy environment that encourages genuine ownership.

• Exposure to innovative ideas in AI, scientific discovery, and emerging technologies.

• Opportunity to tackle foundational challenges at the crossroads of AI and physics.

• A culture that appreciates curiosity, deep thinking, and first-principles reasoning.

• Opportunity to contribute to efforts aimed at advancing fundamental science.