Program Director

We are a development, data science and design studio that works closely with founders and executives to create custom software and machine learning solutions.

About AE Studio

AE Studio is on a mission to increase agency for all conscious beings. We’re part consultancy, part startup studio, and part research group. One day we’re helping a Fortune 500 team ship a critical AI product, the next we’re working with a founder to get their first customers, or exploring alignment projects with government and research groups.

We treat client work like founder-led startups: clear ownership, honest conversations, and a focus on results that matter.

The Role

Being a Program Director at AE means the outcome is yours. You are here to make sure the right things get built, the right people are building them, and the client trusts us more at the end than they did at the start.

This is not a project manager seat. You don’t run tickets or sprint rituals. You carry the executive relationship, set the bar, make the hard tradeoffs, and decide what matters when the ground shifts. When things are unclear or critical, you are the one both our clients and our team look to.

What You’ll Do

• Own the client relationship. You are the person clients call first, whether it is to celebrate a major win or to get clear direction when challenges come up.


• You are a mentor and escalation point for PMs and Tech Leads, supporting them towards taking complex goals and turning them into a clear plan the team can execute .


• Help clients understand priorities. Align on what matters now, what can wait, and where a “yes, and” can unlock more value without derailing delivery.


• Keep quality high and confidence intact as milestones approach. You set the conditions for releases to land smoothly.


• Keep leadership in the loop with clean updates and real forecasts. No surprises.


• Navigate the client’s org, building relationships that open doors, clear blockers, and expand our impact.


• Grow accounts in ways that actually matter: spotting opportunities, connecting value across initiatives, and helping clients see us as long-term partners rather than one-off vendors.


• You balance delivery, satisfaction, and profitability. You know how to have money conversations without losing trust.


• Make the overall relationship successful. That means work is delivered well, clients are satisfied, renewals and expansions happen naturally, and invoices are current because trust is strong and communication is clear.

What You Don’t Do

• You don’t write user stories or run sprints.


• You don’t design systems in detail.


• You don’t just smooth things over and hope the team figures it out.

    Your job is to own the outcome, not the tasks.

What We’re Looking For

• You’ve led complex software programs where success was not guaranteed, and you shipped successfully anyway.


• You can talk with engineers about tradeoffs, with executives about strategy, and with clients about money without losing anyone.


• You have experience making distributed teams. You know how to spot strong talent and when to say someone is not cutting it.


• You write clearly and directly. Bad news travels fast through you, and people trust you more for it.


• You can understand why AI alignment matters and will be able to explain it in your own words.

Nice to Have

• You have been a founder, CEO, CTO, or product lead who had to own outcomes in the real world.


• You have worked with government or research programs like DARPA, NSF, or ARPA.


• You know how to navigate compliance and bureaucracy without losing momentum.

How Success is Measured

• We ship when we say we will.


• Clients extend or expand when projects end.


• Forecasts are accurate, or at least honest.


• The team stays healthy instead of burning out.

The Tracks

Most PDs at AE work across both commercial and alignment projects. The flavor shifts a little:

Enterprise and startups mean focusing on long-term value, extensions, and making messy business models real.

Government and research work means hitting technical milestones, keeping documentation and review boards satisfied, and navigating bureaucracy while still delivering.

At its core, the job is the same: own outcomes, protect quality, and hold trust.

Salary range from $150k/year to $210k/year. Not in the range? That's fine, you can still apply and our team may fit you in a more senior position that we're not actively hiring right now, but we are growing fast and may have other openings soon. This range considering people based in California.

EQUITY

Working at AE means receiving equity in our client projects and in Skunkworks ventures. The equity is priced at $0 when granted for tax reasons, but AE invests millions into these projects. Equity comes from reduced margins on client work and internal funding. You get a real stake in the things you help build.

The longer you stay, the more value you create and the more equity you receive. If you leave on good terms, you can retain 20% of your equity by staying engaged. If you spin out a Skunkworks venture, you retain 100%.