Program Coordinator, Physical AI Program, R&D Division

Job Description

Program Coordinator, Physical AI Program, R&D Division

Company: Hitachi America Ltd.

Division: R&D Division

Location: Santa Clara, California (on-site)

Status: Full Time, limited-term (6 months, with possibility of extension)

The Company

About Hitachi America, Ltd.

Hitachi America, Ltd. is the regional headquarters for Hitachi Group companies in the Americas, overseeing the U.S., Canada, and Latin America markets. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Hitachi Americas has been deeply committed to its Social Innovation Business since its establishment in 1959, addressing society's most pressing challenges through innovative solutions. Leveraging its expertise and resources, Hitachi Americas and its subsidiary companies operate across diverse sectors, including transportation, energy, mobility, industrial manufacturing, healthcare, digital engineering, data analytics and others. Driven by Digital, Green, and Innovation, Hitachi Americas remains at the forefront of pioneering solutions that shape the future. For further details, please visit https://www.hitachi.us/.

Through its Social Innovation Business (SIB) that brings together IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products, Hitachi contributes to a harmonized society where the environment, wellbeing, and economic growth are in balance. Hitachi operates globally in four sectors – Digital Systems & Services, Energy, Mobility, and Connective Industries – and the Strategic SIB Business Unit for new growth businesses. With Lumada at its core, Hitachi generates value from integrating data, technology and domain knowledge to solve customer and social challenges.

Summary

Hitachi America's R&D Division in Santa Clara is Hitachi's research arm in North America. Its labs work with Hitachi's businesses in rail, energy, industry and digital infrastructure, and with research counterparts in Japan, to take new technology from the lab into use. One of its largest current efforts is a multi-site Physical AI program with Hitachi businesses and partners in the Americas, bringing robots and AI systems into the inspection and operation of industrial sites.

The Program Coordinator sits in the division's Program Management Office and is the coordinator for this program. The job is to keep its many parties moving together: the division's labs, Hitachi's research centers in Japan and other regions, the Hitachi businesses that host the sites, and outside partners such as technology providers, universities and startups. The role owns the program plan, meeting schedule, action tracking, stakeholder records and reporting. It suits someone who has run a program with many stakeholders and wants to learn how industrial AI is put to work.

Job Responsibilities

• Maintain the program plan and calendar across sites, labs and partners. Prepare and run program meetings and workshops, record the decisions, and make sure the actions get done.
• Keep track of what the program has promised to each business, partner and research counterpart, with dates, deliverables and reporting, and tell the program's leadership early when something is slipping.
• Be the first contact for program members and outside parties on schedules, information and logistics. Bring new members from the labs, businesses and partners up to speed, and organize site visits and travel.
• Coordinate with Hitachi's research centers in Japan and other regions so that work on the program stays aligned across time zones, and keep a shared record of who is doing what.
• Follow the Program Management Office's processes for external engagements, agreements and contracts, working with Legal and the business units as needed.
• Write status reports and briefing notes for R&D management, business sponsors and counterparts in Japan, with input from the technical leads, and make sure that what goes to partners meets export control, intellectual property and confidentiality rules.
  

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, and three or more years coordinating a program with many stakeholders.
• A record of keeping a program on schedule when the people involved sit in several organizations and none of them report to the coordinator.
• Clear writing, and the ability to turn a technical discussion into a short summary that an executive or a partner can act on.
• Careful with detail. Plans, trackers and records stay accurate and current.
• Interest in robotics, AI and industrial technology. A technical background helps but is not required; willingness to learn Hitachi's businesses is essential.
• Comfortable working across organizations, cultures and time zones, including with colleagues in Japan. Experience in an international organization is a plus.
• Fluent with AI tools in everyday work, such as drafting and summarizing documents, preparing meeting notes and keeping plans and trackers current, and keen to find where they can take over routine coordination.

Our Values

We are proud to say we are an equal opportunity employer and welcome all applicants for employment without attention to any factor that doesn’t impact your ability to do the job, including race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status. We are proud of Japanese heritage, with our values expressed through the Hitachi Spirit:

Wa – Harmony, Trust, Respect

Makoto – Sincerity, Fairness, Honesty, Integrity

Kaitakusha-Seishin – Pioneering Spirit, Challenge

For California only (as required by California’s Pay Transparency for Pay Equity Act (SB 1162): A good faith estimate of the expected salary for this position in our California office salary range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire is $78,242 - $97,803. Pay is determined based on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, depth of experience in the practice area. Employees are eligible to participate in Hitachi America’s variable pay program, subject to the program’s conditions and restrictions.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-Females/Minorities/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

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Use of Al and automated tools in recruitment

As part of our recruitment process, Hitachi Energy uses digital and automated tools, including Al-supported solutions, to assist with activities such as application screening, job matching, and interview scheduling. These tools are designed to support our recruiters and do not replace human decision-making. Candidate data is processed in accordance with applicable data protection and employment laws as well as Hitachis Global Data Privacy Notice.