Technical Project Manager at an Energy Start-Up

Mesodyne is a startup company revolutionizing power generation with its innovative LightCell technologyusing thermophotovoltaics to provide efficient, silent, reliable, long-endurance power from any fuel. By bridging the gap between batteries and internal combustion engines, Mesodyne's LightCell technology provides more than a 10x improvement in endurance for unmanned vehicles, wearables, and various other equipment. At Mesodyne, we are committed to bringing groundbreaking products to the industrial and defense sectors, with multiple existing contracts and numerous upcoming business opportunities.

We are seeking a passionate and experienced Project Manager to coordinate, plan and manage prototyping deliverables between customers and the Mesodyne engineering team as we transition to our next stage of growth. Reporting directly to the Chief Growth Officer (CGO), and working across engineering, manufacturing and business development, you will be responsible for project success. Your primary focus will be ensuring quality, timely deliverables that meet customer requirements, lead to additional engagements and facilitating the work of engineers towards these goals. This is a hands-on role in a fast-paced startup environment requiring technical depth, management and organizational skills, and external-facing professionalism. There is significant opportunity for impact and growth.

Responsibilities

- Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, and budgets to ensure successful project delivery.

- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify project risks and develop mitigation strategies.

- Communicate project status, risks, and issues to stakeholders and leadership in a clear and concise manner.

- Facilitate project meetings and ensure action items are tracked and completed on time.

- Manage project scope and change requests to ensure project goals are met within budget and timeline constraints.

- Identify and manage project dependencies and critical path activities to ensure timely project delivery.

- Continuously improve project management processes and tools to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

- Attend regular design reviews, providing constructive feedback and ensuring design integrity, manufacturability, and accurate documentation (including CAD models).

- Coordinate closely with customers to facilitate relationship growth and additional business opportunities

- Manage project reporting and communication regarding status, progress, and technical challenges to the executive team, customers/sponsors, and external partners/vendors.

- Collaborate closely with the CTO and broader engineering teams to define technical requirements, strategy, and architecture for new prototypes.

- Work closely with the CGO to identify and execute on growth demos and experimentation events, to include supporting experimentation exercises and demos to provide hands-on field support and ensure event success.

Qualifications

- B.S. or M.S.in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field.

- 5+ years of experience in hardware development, including design (CAD proficiency essential), analysis, fabrication, and testing of complex mechanical or electromechanical systems.

- Proven experience leading small technical teams or projects. Formal project management experience and leadership aptitude is key.

- Demonstrated success in taking hardware concepts through the prototyping stage in any sector (consumer, medical, aerospace, defense, etc.)

- Broad technical knowledge, including familiarity with engineering principles sufficient to manage projects and integrated system design. Experience with relevant areas such as thermal management, fluid systems, power generation, or materials science is a plus.

- Strong organizational skills, with the ability to develop, execute and coordinate project timelines.

- Strong communication (written and verbal) and collaboration skills, comfortable interacting with leadership, team members, customers, and vendors.

- Adaptability and enthusiasm for working in a dynamic, fast-paced startup environment.

- A portfolio showcasing previous project outcomes is highly encouraged.

Location

This position is based in Alexandria, VA.