Full-Time 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. 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 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.
• Help clients understand priorities.
• Keep quality high and confidence intact as milestones approach.
• 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.
• You balance delivery, satisfaction, and profitability.
• Make the overall relationship successful.

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. 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. 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.

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