We’re Blue River, a team of innovators driven to create intelligent machinery that solves monumental problems for our customers. We empower our customers – farmers, construction crews, and foresters - to implement safer and more sustainable solutions, driving increased profitability with less reliance on scarce labor. We believe that focusing on the small stuff – pixel-by-pixel and task-by-task - leads to big gains. With our partners at John Deere, we have the ability to bring innovative computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and product management solutions to scale production, maximizing their potential impact.
Our people are at the heart of what we do. Through cross-discipline collaboration, this mission-driven and daring team is eager to define the new frontier of mobile robotics. We are always asking hard questions, rapidly iterating, and getting our boots in the field and on-site to figure it out. We won’t give up until we’ve made a tangible and positive impact on the planet.
Summary
We are seeking a leader for the See & Spray Program Management team to drive clarity in scaling a revolutionary product. In its first year of production, See & Spray was used over 1 million acres, saving farmers 67% of herbicide — and we’re just getting started! This role will play a crucial role in scaling this technology, partnering closely with engineering and product to drive clarity in the unknown, increase development effectiveness, and maintain alignment across stakeholders within Blue River and Deere.
Job Responsibilities
- Lead and drive improvement in execution planning across a growing number of complex programs within the See & Spray product line.
- Manage a distributed team of high-performing project & program managers, assigning work, scope, and areas of responsibility as appropriate.
- Partner closely with engineering, product, and field team leaders to prioritize and manage issues, risks, and dependencies and resolve misalignments with overall scope, schedule, and budget.
- Synthesize and communicate the status of programs at multiple levels to highlight the team’s accomplishments, flag areas of risk, and rally the team around important milestones.
- Develop and mature processes to increase development efficiency, drive alignment, and support scaling of programs and projects.
- Foster a culture of transparency and open communication within the program stakeholders and leadership teams at Blue River Technology and John Deere.
- Function as an inter-organizational bridge between Blue River Technology and John Deere creating high-performing program workstreams while being the catalyst for clear lines of communication for cross-organization counterparts.
Required Experience and Skills
- 5 years of experience in a management role with proven leadership ability and management of high-performing teams and projects
- Ability to summarize complex issues succinctly, while providing the appropriate level of detail.
- High-level communication, interpersonal skills, and ability to cultivate and maintain relationships.
- Experience managing multi-disciplinary engineering projects
- Adaptability and comfort in uncertainty
- Creative problem solver and confident decision-maker
- High degree of emotional and professional maturity
Preferred Experience and Skills
- Experience driving results in large and small company environments, with a focus on robotics.
- Ability to de-escalate conflict while driving team progress
- Experience managing complex programs at scale
- Background in engineering, or other technical areas
At Blue River, we’re passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. While we have more work to do to advance diversity and inclusion, we’re investing in our programs, including recruiting, mentorship, career development, and learning & development to ensure they support our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals. We support each employee in living a full life, enabling a thriving career, and accomplishing a meaningful, challenging mission while collaborating with incredible people. We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align completely with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.
We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request an accommodation.
The US annual base salary range for this position is $154,000 - $275,000, along with eligibility for Blue River’s bonus and benefit programs. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process. During the recruitment process, we may identify an alternative role or level to which you are more suited. If your ideal role at Blue River differs from the advertised position, we will provide an updated pay range as soon as possible during the hiring process.
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