Project Manager - Systems Safety & Science Lab Readiness

Role Description:

We are seeking a proactive, technically fluent Project Manager to own coordination and execution across two complementary workstreams:

• systems safety and architectural decision follow-through

• In the safety workstream, you will partner with the Systems Safety Lead to surface risks, clarify cross-system dependencies, engage missing stakeholders, and drive actions and decisions to closure

• science-lab readiness and operations.

• In the lab workstream, you will translate evolving research needs into practical plans that keep flexible spaces ready for physical testing and data collection

This single role combines curiosity and ownership in ambiguous technical discussions with disciplined, hands-on project execution.

Responsibilities: Systems Safety & Architectural Coordination

• Serve as the program partner to the Systems Safety Lead, translating open safety and system-design questions into coordinated actions, owners, and follow-up commitments
• Maintain consistent visibility into risks using the team's established risk-capture mechanisms, ensuring that important architectural questions receive attention alongside urgent delivery tasks
• Track dependencies across perception, sensing, hardware, and software; bring the implications of proposed architecture changes to the appropriate stakeholders and decision-makers
• Proactively identify missing stakeholders and information, convene the right contributors, and help develop collaborative proposals that address safety requirements and implementation options
• Drive unresolved questions to closure through clear decision requests, documented outcomes, action tracking, and timely escalation of blockers
• Coordinate safety-related work across Boston and Pasadena, keeping cross-site dependencies and commitments visible

Responsibilities: Science Lab Readiness & Operations

• Coordinate science-lab setup and ongoing reconfiguration so spaces support changing physical testing and data-collection needs
• Partner with science leads to capture requirements, challenge unclear assumptions, and distinguish minimum viable requirements from desirable enhancements
• Maintain a detailed rolling two- to four-week readiness plan covering space configurations, equipment, material storage for training and test sets, networking, deliveries, and installation dependencies; adapt the plan as needs change
• Engage facilities, sourcing, construction, networking, and other specialists to answer open questions and deliver the required infrastructure and support
• Coordinate equipment and rigging readiness with qualified specialists, including fit and access checks and installation scheduling that minimizes disruption to other lab activities
• Track orders, supplier commitments, missing parts, and delivery milestones; follow up proactively, escalate risks early, and coordinate recovery actions before avoidable delays block research
• Communicate lab readiness, upcoming changes, outstanding decisions, and blockers so science teams understand what will be available and when

Integrated Planning & Prioritization

Maintain a coordinated view of both workstreams, with clear priorities, owners, dependencies, and next steps. Pair near-term lab execution planning with a recurring review of safety risks and architectural decisions so immediate operational demands do not displace longer-term system needs. Make competing commitments and capacity constraints visible to project leadership, and obtain prioritization decisions when both workstreams require attention. Provide concise status updates that distinguish actions you can drive directly from decisions or specialist input needed from others.

Qualifications & Working Style

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field
• Able to work on site integrated with a client team in either North Reading or Wilmington, MA
• Experience managing cross-functional technical projects with interdependent workstreams, changing requirements, and responsibility for driving delivery
• Technical comfort with sensing, hardware, software, and system design sufficient to follow architectural discussions, recognize cross-system impacts, and ask effective questions; deep expertise in every discipline is not required
• Ability to understand the purpose of a research activity and translate it into practical space, equipment, storage, networking, and scheduling needs
• Strong risk, issue, dependency, procurement, and action-management skills, with persistent follow-through and timely escalation
• Ability to turn ambiguity into a working plan, identify missing information and stakeholders, and develop proposals collaboratively rather than waiting for detailed direction
• Clear communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to build accountability across technical teams, operational partners, and suppliers without direct authority
• A curious, high-ownership approach and strong bias for action, balanced with judgment about when specialist expertise or leadership decisions are needed
• Ability to balance immediate execution demands with sustained attention to important risks and decisions

Scope & Working Relationships

You will work closely with project leadership, the Systems Safety Lead, science leads, technical contributors in Boston and Pasadena, and facilities, sourcing, construction, networking, and supplier partners. You own coordination, planning, risk visibility, and follow-through across both workstreams-not technical safety approval or architectural decision authority. Science leads remain responsible for staffing test activities, including teleoperators and data collectors. Facilities and construction specialists retain their domain expertise, while you ensure their input and work are coordinated. The existing test and verification and validation (V&V) TPM retains ownership of that team's lab planning; your lab scope supports the science team's flexible, frequently reconfigured environment.

What Success Looks Like

• Safety risks and architectural dependencies are surfaced consistently, reach the right decision-makers, and result in documented decisions and completed follow-up actions
• Science teams have ready, adaptable lab spaces, with the next two to four weeks of requirements and dependencies understood and actively managed
• Supplier, installation, and infrastructure risks are addressed early, minimizing avoidable interruptions from missing materials or unprepared space
• Both workstreams retain clear ownership and momentum, with priority conflicts escalated before they become unresolved commitments or delivery blockers

Location

Onsite five days per week at a Simplexity client site in either North Reading or Wilmington, MA

Compensation & Benefits

Various compensation styles will be considered

W-2 Salary

$130,000 to $155,000 per year

Excellent Healthcare plan (Medical, Dental, and Vision) fully paid for by the company for the employee; partial payment for dependents

401(k) plan with company match after 1,000 hours of service

Long-term and short-term disability, AD&D and Life Insurance

11 paid holidays

15 days of paid-time-off (PTO) accrued each year

W-2 Hourly

You would be an hourly employee of Simplexity

Hourly rate $65 - $85/hr depending on experience

Excellent Healthcare plan (Medical, Dental, and Vision) fully paid for by the company for the employee; partial payment for dependents

401(k) plan with company match after 1,000 hours of service

Long-term and short-term disability, AD&D and Life Insurance

11 paid holidays

15 days of paid-time-off (PTO) accrued each year

1099 contractors

You have your own registered consulting/contracting business

Hourly rate $90 - $125/hr depending on experience

No benefits, holidays, or paid time off (PTO) included

No recruiters please

Why join Simplexity Product Development?

Simplifying the Complex. Simplexity is a product development engineering firm that helps leading technology companies bring advanced robotic and automation systems into reliable, scalable production. We reduce cost, improve quality, and strengthen manufacturing readiness for our clients. Our collaborative teams value meaningful work, technical growth, and sustainable work-life balance.

Simplexity is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Diverse candidates are encouraged to apply.

• Please be advised that Simplexity Product Development will never ask you to respond to a non-SimplexityPD domain such as a gmail, ymail, hotmail, etc. If you suspect that you have been contacted by someone impersonating Simplexity Product Development who is using a fraudulent email address, please do not reply. If you are not sure, please fill out a contact form at https://www.simplexitypd.com/contact/ to report the incident. *