Senior Research Program Manager, Construction

Job Requisition ID # 26WD99517 Position Overview Autodesk Research is hiring a Senior Research Program Manager to lead a portfolio of forward-looking construction research programs. You will sit at the intersection of research strategy, construction domain expertise, AI-enabled workflows, and cross-functional program execution — helping teams move from ambiguous opportunity areas to structured plans, measurable progress, and strategic impact. Autodesk Research explores advances that may shape products and customer workflows five to ten years out, investigating how intelligent, agentic, and AI-driven systems can transform how ideas move from concept to reality. This is not a traditional Technical Program Manager role. Research Program Managers here are horizontally focused connectors: they organize programs, manage ambiguity, coordinate stakeholders, and link research work to Autodesk outcomes.

Lead program management for construction research initiative Manage a program spanning multiple related projects, experiments, prototypes, and partnerships across complex, extended timelines. Build and maintain integrated program plans across workstreams, defining scope, objectives, milestones, dependencies, and owners Align the portfolio with Research priorities, Autodesk’s long-term construction vision, available capacity, and strategic outcomes Help teams prioritize when opportunities compete for attention, staffing, or funding Coordinate across researchers, engineers, designers, product teams, external partners, and leadership Manage the research lifecycle Help teams move through opportunity framing, discovery, experimentation, validation, and transition — keeping work visible and actionable without forcing it into a rigid delivery model. Establish lightweight governance for planning, reviews, decisions, and risk tracking Ensure research artifacts, learnings, demos, and decision records are findable and reusable Support transition planning when research is ready to inform product strategy, incubation, or future investment Partner with other Research Program Managers to improve shared practices, tools, and operating rhythms Bring construction domain fluency You don’t need to be the deepest expert in the room, but you must understand construction well enough to ask informed questions, confidently engage with partners and connect research to real industry needs. Relevant areas: Project delivery phases: preconstruction, planning, estimating, scheduling, procurement, field execution, and handover BIM/VDC workflows, model coordination, construction documentation, site data, and connected data environments Reality capture, digital twins, construction analytics, and AI-enabled decision support Autodesk Construction Cloud, Revit, Navisworks, Forma, Tandem, or adjacent AEC platforms Coordinate AI and emerging technology research Support programs exploring how AI, generative AI, intelligent agents, simulation, and connected workflows can transform construction. Help researchers structure AI-enabled workstreams with clear milestones, experiments, and evaluation plans Coordinate research integrating BIM, schedules, reality capture, field data, and other construction information sources Translate emerging technical work into clear narratives, decision briefs, and next-step recommendations Use AI tools in your own practice to improve planning, synthesis, documentation, and follow-through Drive accountability and communicate clearly Create enough structure to help people do their best work — without slowing research down. Maintain dashboards, milestone trackers, decision logs, risk registers, and stakeholder updates Identify blockers, ambiguous ownership, unresolved decisions, and priority conflicts Facilitate planning sessions, research reviews, workshops, and decision forums Prepare crisp executive summaries, narratives, and briefing materials for senior leaders Manage resources and external engagements Track program