The posting
We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.
As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.
When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.
Workplace: On-site, Monday-Thursday. REMOTE on Friday. Location: Palo Alto, CA
We are hiring a Technical Program Manager to own smartphone projection certification and the Android framework scope that sits underneath it. The primary objective is to get the platform certified: driving Apple CarPlay and Android Auto through pre-certification and certification on schedule, and owning the relationship with Apple and Google through that process. Alongside certification, you will run program management for the Android framework work that projection depends on, covering framework and service layer changes, HAL and vehicle integration, and the defect flow between our organization, the Tier 1, and the third party lab. Certification timelines are tight and largely outside our control, so the job is as much about sequencing and early escalation as it is about tracking. This role is a fit for a TPM who can hold a technical conversation with an Android framework engineer in the morning and a compliance conversation with Apple or Google in the afternoon. Deep hands-on expertise is less important than communication, bridge-building and the ability to ramp quickly.
Responsibilities Projection certification • Own the certification program plan for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across wired and wireless configurations, from application through pre-certification, certification and approval • Manage the relationship with Apple and Google as strategic partners, coordinating submissions, reviews, test schedules and approval gates • Coordinate with the third party lab conducting certification testing, including scheduling, bench readiness and test result submission • Drive pre-certification validation and non-compliance resolution, sequencing fixes against the certification window rather than the normal release cadence • Track certification requirements against the platform build, maintaining a clear view of which gaps are open, who owns them and when they close • Manage the coexistence and interoperability scope between CarPlay, Android Auto and our own projection and infotainment experience Android framework and platform program management • Create program timing plans for the Android framework and projection work based on available resources and required features for the software teams • Work with cross-functional teams to evaluate, develop and clarify requirements, then decompose them into consumable work tasks for developers and testers • Drive multiple technical projects across vehicle software domains, helping to set priorities for engineering • Prioritize and drive software defects to closure to meet certification and software release timing, leading triage where next steps on open issues are identified and assigned • Identify risks in development, assess program impact, and work with engineering managers to mitigate them • Communicate program status, progress and risks to stakeholders, escalating decisions needed to the heads of PMO
Required Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or a related technical field • 5+ years of technical program management on software products, including ownership of a delivery schedule gated by an external party • Exposure to smartphone projection, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sufficient to ramp quickly and engage credibly with Apple and Google on certification. Deep expertise is not required • Demonstrated experience managing a certification, compliance or approval process with an external partner or accredited lab, under a fixed timeline • Experience decomposing requirements into work tasks and running defect triage across the organization, supplier and lab boundaries • Demonstrated history of communicating with engineering managers on technical topics and driving decisions to closure • Strong written and verbal communication, comfortable escalating to director and PMO level with a recommendation rather than a status
Preferred Qualifications • Automotive infotainment experience. Consumer electronics and other adjacent domains are acceptable where projection exposure is present • Familiarity with the technical implementation of projection and connectivity features in a vehicle: USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Bluetooth profiles, voice, navigation and phone integration • Working knowledge of Android Automotive OS and AOSP: Android framework and service layers, car framework, HAL and HIDL, and the Android build system • Understanding of Apple MFi licensing and CarPlay compliance testing, and of Google's certification requirements including CDD compliance and the xTS suites such as CTS, CTS Verifier, VTS and ATS • Experience working with third party labs and OEM certification workflows • Familiarity with projection debugging and log analysis at a level sufficient to follow an issue, for example adb and system logs • Understanding of QNX or Linux cockpit platforms and hypervisor-based architectures, since projection sits on top of them • Vehicle program cadence experience: bench and vehicle build phases, software release trains, and launch readiness gates • Tooling: Jira, Confluence, Jama for requirements tracking, Git-based workflows, and program reporting or dashboard tools
Salary Range • $140,000 - 155,000 • The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy.
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Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.
