---
title: 'Program Manager, Grants & Project Operations at SambaNova Systems'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/program-manager-grants-project-operations-sambanova-systems-tokyo-ecv6wvdfrxhx'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-03'
---

# Program Manager, Grants & Project Operations at SambaNova Systems

- **Company:** SambaNova Systems
- **Location:** Tokyo, Japan
- **Compensation:** JPY 150k–JPY 200k
- **Posted:** 2026-10-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-03
- **Apply:** https://sambanova.ai/sambanova-available-positions/?gh_jid=6237848004

## Job description

SambaNova is a leader in next-generation AI infrastructure, delivering a full-stack inference platform for customers worldwide. At the core of SambaNova's technology is the RDU (Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit) — a chip built on a dataflow architecture rather than the traditional GPU model. Its decode performance is especially strong for agentic workloads like multi-turn agents, code generation, and long-running applications. RDUs are packaged into SambaRack, rack-scale hardware that lets customers deploy state-of-the-art models with better performance, greater energy efficiency, and faster time to value.

The Program Manager, Grants & Project Operations supports the successful execution of government-funded R&D projects and strategic initiatives at SambaNova Systems Japan GK.

This role serves as a key coordination point among technical teams, management, headquarters, research partners, customers, and funding agencies. The position focuses on project operations, grant administration, documentation, reporting, and stakeholder coordination to support efficient and compliant project execution throughout the project lifecycle.

## Key Responsibilities

- Government-Funded Programs
- Coordinate and support government-funded R&D projects, including NEDO, MEXT, and other public funding programs
- Coordinate project reporting schedules, submission requirements, and administrative deliverables
- Coordinate preparation and submission of project-related documentation and supporting evidence
- Maintain project records and ensure audit readiness
- Support project reviews, inspections, and compliance activities
- Support funding claims and related documentation activities
- Project Operations
- Coordinate project schedules, reporting deadlines, deliverables, and follow-up actions
- Drive timely completion of reporting and administrative requirements across project teams
- Consolidate information from project schedules, meeting records, technical updates, and stakeholder inputs
- Support monitoring of project reporting schedules and communicate administrative issues as appropriate
- Support project activities throughout the lifecycle, from project setup through reporting and closeout
- Documentation & Technical Communication Support
- Support preparation, review, and quality assurance of project proposals, technical reports, progress reports, presentation materials, and external communications
- Organize and structure information provided by technical teams for project documentation and funding submissions
- Support preparation and maintenance of bilingual (Japanese/English) project documentation where required
- Maintain document repositories, version control, and project records
- Ensure consistency, completeness, and overall quality of project documentation
- Stakeholder Coordination
- Facilitate communication among technical teams, management, research partners, customers, subcontractors, and funding agencies
- Support communication and reporting activities with headquarters and global stakeholders as required
- Organize project meetings, workshops, reviews, governance activities, and management updates
- Prepare meeting materials, minutes, action-item logs, and follow-up documentation
- Support coordination among technical, legal, finance, and administrative functions
- Contract & Financial Administration Support
- Support expenditure tracking and funding-related reporting activities in coordination with Finance and management
- Assist with collection and organization of supporting evidence, expense records, and project documentation
- Support contract documentation, contract administration, and maintenance of related records
- Coordinate with Finance, Legal, Procurement, and external service providers as required
- Support reimbursement, invoicing, and funding-related documentation processes
- Process & Documentation Management
- Support maintenance and continuous improvement of project documentation and operational processes
- Maintain documentation procedures, templates, and records management practices
- Contribute to efficient and compliant execution of project activities across Japan operations

Required Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
- Experience supporting government-funded R&D projects, technology development programs, or strategic projects
- Strong project coordination, documentation, and organizational skills
- Experience working with multiple stakeholders across organizations
- Excellent Japanese communication skills (business level or above)
- Ability to communicate effectively in English in a professional environment
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience with NEDO, MEXT, or other Japanese public funding programs
- Experience in semiconductor, AI, quantum technology, deep-tech, or related industries
- Experience supporting project proposals, technical documentation, reporting, and compliance activities
- Experience preparing or reviewing bilingual (Japanese/English) project documentation
- Experience working with international and cross-functional teams
- Familiarity with project governance, grant administration, contract documentation, and audit support activities

Base Salary Range:

Base Pay Range ¥15,000,000—¥20,000,000 JPY

Submission Guidelines Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at SambaNova Systems, you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified.

## EEO Policy

SambaNova Systems is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Benefits Summary for US-Based, Full-Time Employment Positions SambaNova offers a competitive total rewards package, including the base salary, plus equity and benefits. We cover 95% premium coverage for employee medical insurance, and 77% premium coverage for dependents and offer a Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution. We also offer Dental, Vision, Short/Long term Disability, Basic Life, Voluntary Life, and AD&D insurance plans in addition to Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options like Health Care, Limited Purpose, and Dependent Care. Our library of well-being benefits available to you and your dependents includes a full subscription to Headspace, Gympass+ membership with access to physical gyms, One Medical membership, counseling services with an Employee Assistance Program, and much more.

## About SambaNova Systems

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: SambaNova Systems provides a full-stack AI platform, from specialized Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips to an agentic AI inference platform, designed for enterprises and governments.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series E)
- **Headquarters**: San Jose, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Rodrigo Liang (Co-founder & CEO), Kunle Olukotun (Co-founder & Chief Technologist)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Artificial Intelligence / Enterprise AI Infrastructure
- **Target Customers**: Developers, large enterprises, government agencies, and data centers (B2B)
- **Mission Statement**: To be the most efficient and adaptable AI platform on the planet, empowering enterprises to control the trajectory of their data and AI future.

## Products & Services
- **SambaNova Suite**: The company's core product, a fully integrated AI platform that includes hardware, software, and models. It provides OpenAI-compatible APIs for inference.
- **SambaRack (SN40 & SN50)**: A state-of-the-art, rack-scale system optimized for AI inference. The SN50 is the fifth-generation system designed for fast agentic inference with high energy efficiency (average of 10 kWh for SN40).
- **Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU)**: A custom-designed AI chip (SN40L, SN50) with a unique three-tier memory architecture that delivers high speed and throughput for large models while using less power than traditional GPUs.
- **SambaOrchestrator**: A management tool for deploying, monitoring, and auto-scaling AI models across data centers.
- **Sovereign AI Platform**: An offering for governments and enterprises to keep data secure and governed while enabling business teams to use AI.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (Private company).
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$1.484B** (raised over multiple rounds, including a $350M Series E in early 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Intel, GV (Google Ventures), BlackRock, Redline Capital Management, Atlantic Bridge Capital.
- **Growth Signals**: 
    - Raised a $350M Series E in early 2026.
    - A launch partner for Meta's Llama 4 series.
    - First platform to support all three variants of Llama 3.1 (8B, 70B, and 405B).
    - Has filed 313 patents related to parallel computing, computer memory, and instruction processing.
    - Customers include Blackbox and Texas Advanced Computing Center.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Full-Stack Integration**: Unlike many competitors, SambaNova controls the entire AI stack from the chip (RDU) to the software and models, allowing for deep optimization.
- **Efficiency**: The RDU's dataflow architecture is designed for high performance with significantly lower power consumption (best tokens per watt), a key differentiator for scaling AI.
- **Open-Source Focus**: The company is a strong supporter of open-source AI models, being a launch partner for major releases like Meta's Llama 4.

## Strategic Focus
- **Agentic AI**: The company is heavily focused on enabling complex, multi-step agentic AI workflows, with the SN50 chip and SambaOrchestrator built for this purpose.
- **Sovereign AI**: Targeting government and enterprise clients who need secure, on-premises or private cloud AI solutions.
- **Scaling Inference**: Prioritizing high-speed, low-latency inference for the largest open-source models (e.g., DeepSeek, Llama) at scale.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as a "smart and motivated team" that values "talent first," "innovation that impacts," and "trust and integrity." The company emphasizes collaboration across departments and access to founders.
- **Work Environment**: Offers flexible working hours and a hybrid/remote-friendly policy (Flexible PTO in the U.S.).
- **Notable Perks**: 
    - Flexible PTO
    - Parental Leave
    - Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits
    - 401k/Pensions
    - Gym Access
    - Mentorship and buddy programs
    - Internship programs
- **Engineering Culture**: A deep-tech environment where you work on cutting-edge AI hardware (RDUs) and software, pushing the boundaries of AI performance.

## Sources
1. [SambaNova.ai](https://sambanova.ai/)
2. [SambaNova About Us](https://sambanova.ai/company/about)
3. [SambaNova Careers](https://sambanova.ai/company/careers)
4. [SambaNova Job Openings](https://sambanova.ai/company/careers/job-openings)
5. [CB Insights Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/sambanova-systems)

## Other roles at SambaNova Systems

- [Principal Place and Route (PnR) Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-place-and-route-pnr-engineer-sambanova-systems-austin-28ffhe4vwzd8) — Austin, TX / San Jose, CA
- [Senior Principal Model Bring-up Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-principal-model-bring-up-engineer-sambanova-systems-austin-36wbyenmwkjs) — Austin, TX / San Jose, CA
- [Technical Project Manager / Engineering Lead – AI/ML Infrastructure](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-project-manager-engineering-lead-ai-ml-infrastructure-sambanova-0pky8kzczwqp) — Tokyo, Japan
- [Cloud Platform Engineer - New Grad](https://feeny.ai/job/cloud-platform-engineer-new-grad-sambanova-systems-austin-p2w6sv735azq) — Austin, TX / San Jose, CA
- [ML Infrastructure Engineer - New Grad](https://feeny.ai/job/ml-infrastructure-engineer-new-grad-sambanova-systems-austin-8s5xdszgpzp3) — Austin, TX / San Jose, CA
- [Runtime Engineer - New Grad](https://feeny.ai/job/runtime-engineer-new-grad-sambanova-systems-austin-9f9q2bbyg7az) — Austin, TX / San Jose, CA
- [Compiler Engineer - New Grad](https://feeny.ai/job/compiler-engineer-new-grad-sambanova-systems-austin-fxgwhwfsrpes) — Austin, TX / San Jose, CA
- [Head of Corporate Marketing](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-corporate-marketing-sambanova-systems-san-jose-2dmy3sckhc3e) — San Jose, CA
- [AI Performance Engineer - New Grad](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-performance-engineer-new-grad-sambanova-systems-austin-bgx0ajf0dcet) — Austin, TX / San Jose, CA
- [Principal Product Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-product-manager-sambanova-systems-san-jose-a2epttfw13th) — San Jose, CA