Technical Program Manager, Atlas Data Operations - bostondynamics

Boston Dynamics is a world leader in mobile robots, tackling some of the toughest robotics challenges. We combine the principles of dynamic control and balance with sophisticated mechanical designs, cutting-edge electronics, and next-generation software for high-performance robots equipped with perception, navigation, and intelligence.

The Atlas team is focused on advancing machine learning and manipulation capabilities. We are seeking a Technical Program Manager, Data Operations to own data quality and annotation operations for Atlas — setting standards, leading the team, and managing the vendor relationships that produce the training data behind Atlas's AI systems. This role spans software quality assurance, data quality strategy, and hands-on operational leadership, and reports to the Atlas Data Operations Associate Director.

Schedule/Working Hours:

Monday – Friday: 40 hours per week, regular hours (e.g., 9 AM to 6 PM, with flexibility across both first and second shift as required).

Responsibilities:

Team Leadership & Performance

Directly manage a team of Annotation Leads and Annotation QA Leads, providing day-to-day direction, prioritization, coaching, and performance feedback.

Serve as the Atlas working team lead for third-party annotation vendors, managing task allocation, performance accountability, and dual-source relationships to optimize cost, quality, and speed.

Annotation Quality & Operations

Own data quality end-to-end — defining standards, QA methodologies, and metrics (accuracy, consistency, rework rates, guideline adherence) — and serve as the primary escalation point for edge cases and labeling ambiguities.

Write SOPs and technical documentation for the annotation team and vendors; forecast annotation needs across Atlas engineering stakeholders and drive continuous improvement across tooling, workflows, and guidelines.

Required Skills & Experience:

Bachelor's degree in a technical field, data science, or cognitive science preferred; proven experience managing teams in a data annotation, data quality, or machine learning data pipeline environment preferred.

Prior experience managing business/contractual relations between third-party annotation vendors/labelling service or BPO service providers strongly preferred. Familiarity with ML data pipelines preferred. Exceptional organizational and communication skills required.