Senior Engineering Program Manager

Senior Engineering Program Manager D-Wave (NYSE: QBTS), D-Wave is a leader in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, software, and services. It is the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, and the first and only to offer dual-platform quantum computing products and services, spanning both annealing and gate-model quantum computing technologies. D-Wave’s mission is to help customers realize the value of quantum today through enterprise-grade systems available on-premises and via its Leap™ quantum cloud service, which offers 99.9% availability and uptime. More than 100 organizations across commercial, government, and research sectors trust D-Wave to address complex computational challenges using quantum computing. Learn more about realizing the value of quantum computing today and how D-Wave is shaping the quantum-driven industrial and societal advancements of tomorrow: www.dwavequantum.com. About the roleThe company is seeking a hands-on, execution-focused Senior Engineering Program Manager (EPM) to drive operational efficiency and process rigor across our engineering teams. In this role, you will bridge the gap between high-level project goals and daily execution. Your primary focus will be optimizing our execution frameworks, managing the product life cycle (PLC), enforcing configuration management, and tracking critical operational cycles. This is a heavily tactical, high-impact role for an independent operator who thrives on building efficient workflows, eliminating bottlenecks, and productizing complex technical systems without needing a script to follow.What you'll doProject Planning & Execution: Partner with engineering leads to build and execute project plans. Implement metrics and KPIs to monitor project health, track progress, and ensure predictable delivery timelinesOperational Execution & Roadblock Removal: Own the schedule and progress tracking for critical, repetitive technical operations (including system cooldown and testing cycles). Proactively identify friction points in the "cooldown-to-cooldown" loop, clear technical or operational roadblocks, and implement process fixes to minimize downtimeProcess Architecture & Tooling Optimization: Partner with engineering leads to design, implement, and iterate on engineering workflows to improve team velocity. Optimize our project management tooling (including Jira, Confluence, or equivalent frameworks) by designing functional workflows, automation rules, clean analytics, and leadership dashboardsProduct Life Cycle (PLC) & Configuration Management: Coordinate the PLC process from development to productization. Establish and enforce robust configuration management practices to ensure system integrity, documentation, and change control are executed flawlesslySystem Productization: Partner with engineering leads to transition complex, R&D-heavy systems into stable, scalable, and reproducible productsStakeholder Communication & Coordination: Act as the central point of alignment across hardware, software, and operations teams. Provide clear visibility on project status, risks, and dependencies through technical documentation, reports, and executive presentations—ensuring stakeholders are informed without creating administrative burden for engineers About YouBachelor’s degree in Engineering or equivalent practical experience4 plus years of experience as an Engineering Program Manager or Technical Project Manager in a complex hardware/software engineering environment (e.g., semiconductors, aerospace, deep tech, or advanced test systems)2 plus years of experience as an Engineer in a complex hardware/software engineering environment (e.g., semiconductors, aerospace, deep tech, or advanced test systems)Proven ability to estimate effort, build and manage detailed project plans, and deliver programs on time while balancing technical risk and operational constraintsStrong judgment in ambiguous environments, with the ability to independently...