Manager, Engineering Program Management

Otter Products is hiring for a Manager of Engineering Program Management to lead our team in Fort Collins, CO. This role can work a hybrid schedule.

As the Manager, Engineering Program Management you will be responsible for overseeing a portfolio of engineering initiatives from concept to delivery. In this role, you will lead and mentor a team of Engineering Program Managers (EPMs), establishing project management methodologies and governance. You will serve as the critical bridge between engineering, product management, operations, and leadership. Your mission is to align engineering execution with broader corporate strategy, manage dependencies, identify and mitigate systemic risks, communicate clearly and regularly, and ensure that engineering initiatives are delivered on time, within scope, and on budget.

This role is responsible for establishing and optimizing engineering processes, optimizing product development, developing and maintaining communication tools, and driving consumer, product, and engineering insights into product creation. The ideal candidate has a strong background in program management, engineering, and consumer products.

Team Leadership:
• Manage, mentor, and grow a team of high-performing program managers, optimizing resource allocation across the engineering organization.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team of Program Managers, ensuring alignment with business activities.
• Oversee the execution of product development programs through Discovery, Concept, and Development phases.
• Serve as escalation point for team.
• Continually coach direct reports to drive performance through ongoing feedback
• Program Governance:
  • Define and scale program management frameworks, controls, and Agile best practices to improve delivery.
  • Choose the right product development methodology for the project (Waterfall, Scrum, Scaled Agile, etc.)
  • Ensure project milestones, quality, and cost targets are met while risks are mitigated and clearly communicated.
  • Actively manage Cost/Schedule/Quality and project scope to original objectives.
  • Lead cross-functional team meetings. Some teams may be globally based.
  • Identify and manage project critical path and dependencies
  • Timely completion of Product Lifecycle gates and milestones
  • As the primary project escalation point, quickly analyze/remove roadblocks and resolve cross-functional issues
  • Formulate and present mitigation plans, options, and solutions
  • Ensure strict adherence to Otter New Product Introduction Process.
  • Communicate project progress via Stand-Up meetings, Weekly Exec Updates, Reports, etc.
  • Facilitate retrospectives and after-action reviews.
• Communication and Stakeholder Relations:
  • Deliver clear, comprehensive program health dashboards, milestone tracking, and KPI metrics
  • Create and maintain clear, simple, visual tools for communicating roadmap and project status
  • Identify and implement tools and methodologies to optimize program tracking, risk management, and decision-making.
  • Establish program management best practices, governance models, and reporting structures to drive transparency and accountability.
  • Act as key liaison between technical and commercial teams, ensuring insights translate into successful product launches.
  • Drive strategic alignment across departments by facilitating communication, prioritization, and risk mitigation.
• Risk & Budget Management:
  • Proactively forecast schedule delays, design mitigation strategies, and manage program budgets.
• Support and maintain a positive safety culture
• Other duties as assigned

• Bachelor's degree required. Degree in Engineering preferred. Experience in lieu of a degree may be considered.
• Minimum of five years progressive experience in engineering, technical program management, or product delivery roles required.
• Previous experience in a mentor, supervisor, lead, or manager role is required.
• Proven track record of successfully launching physical products to market required.
• Agile/SCRUM experience and certifications strongly preferred.