Technical Program Manager – AUV (Maritime Defence Systems)
Marcel Pacific is an Australian maritime technology company developing a next-generation Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) engineered for sovereign defence applications.
Built for stealth, modularity and operational flexibility, our platform is designed to meet the evolving needs of the Australian Defence Force and allied underwater operations. As the company continues to expand from advanced development into operational capability and production, we are seeking a Technical Program Manager to help lead the next stage of growth.
This is a rare opportunity to join a rapidly growing Australian defence technology company and play a key role in shaping both the product and engineering organisation.
The Role
Reporting directly to the Managing Director, the Technical Program Manager will be responsible for coordinating technical delivery across the AUV program while helping mature engineering processes, release management, and production readiness.
This is a leadership role for someone who can operate across systems engineering, product development, testing, production and customer engagement.
The successful candidate will work closely with software, mechanical, electrical and field operations personnel to ensure the platform continues to mature and deliver capability to Defence customers.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead technical delivery of the AUV program from development through operational deployment
* Coordinate engineering activities across software, mechanical, electrical, communications and autonomy disciplines
* Develop and maintain technical roadmaps, delivery schedules and release plans
* Establish predictable hardware and software release processes
* Manage technical risks, dependencies and integration challenges
* Support the transition of engineering outputs into repeatable production processes
* Coordinate system integration, verification, validation and acceptance testing activities
* Plan and support in-water trials, demonstrations and Defence user evaluations
* Interface with Defence stakeholders, DSTG and other customer representatives
* Assist with technical scoping, effort estimation and development planning for future capabilities
* Drive continuous improvement of engineering processes, documentation and configuration management
* Provide technical leadership and mentoring across a multidisciplinary engineering team
What We're Looking For Essential
* Degree qualification in Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, Computer Science or a related technical discipline
* 8+ years of experience in systems engineering, technical program management, robotics, autonomous systems or defence technology development
* Demonstrated experience leading engineering teams, technical programs or multidisciplinary project delivery within a defence, robotics, maritime or autonomous systems environment
* Strong understanding of systems integration, verification and validation processes
* Experience managing technical schedules, risks and stakeholder expectations
* Excellent communication and leadership skills
* Australian citizenship and ability to obtain or maintain an NV1 or NV2 security clearance
Highly Desirable
* Experience with autonomous vehicles, robotics, maritime systems or defence programs
* Experience transitioning products from development into production
* Familiarity with modern engineering toolchains such as JIRA, Confluence, Git, MS Project and CAD-based development environments
* Hands‐on engineering experience across mechanical, electrical, software or test disciplines
* Experience supporting field trials, operational testing or customer demonstrations
* Previous experience developing engineering processes, release management frameworks or technical roadmaps
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