The Program Manager is responsible for ensuring all program requirements are seen through acceptable completions (cost, quality, delivery, and technical performance). The Program Manager also conducts program planning, execution, monitoring, control and reporting; serves as the primary technical and programmatic point of contact to the customer, executive management and the program team; and is responsible for managing and coordinating engineering and production resource utilization across multiple programs. The Program Manager must possess a strong technical foundation in electro-optic/sensor systems (or comparable hardware domains) alongside excellent skills in management, employee relations and planning in a rapidly growing company.
Essential Duties & Responsibilities
- End-to-end technical management of programs, leading delivery of existing products and/or development of new products, according to strategic customer needs and system-level requirements
- Establish and track technical milestones, Design Reviews (PDR/CDR), and program gate reviews; monitor adherence to schedules, identify technical and programmatic risks, and enact corrective actions such as resource reallocation or scope/contract modifications
- Effectively translate and communicate technical requirements, program expectations, and goals between engineering, production, leadership, and the program team
- Maintain working knowledge of functional/environmental test protocols, verification and validation (V&V) planning, operational readiness of program hardware, and logistical/sustainment support from concept through final implementation and delivery
- Track program technical progress through Technical Performance Measures (TPMs) and conduct status reviews with the Program Team and engineering leads
- Provide directions to systems, electrical, optical, mechanical, and/or software engineering teams to mitigate technical and program risk
- Lead technical escalation and issue-resolution processes with customers in coordination with the BD department, including root-cause analysis, corrective/preventive action (CAPA), and customer retention/value-add activities
- Define program scope, technical objectives, and requirements traceability—with support of functional/engineering management—developing and monitoring program work plans, task assignments, schedules, estimates, resource plans, and technical status reports
- Act as technical liaison across Operations, Production, Systems Engineering, Quality, and Executive teams to assess program processes, workflows, requirements, technological enablers, financials, and communication
- Support configuration management (CM) and change control processes across the program lifecycle
- Develop new business and/or expand the product line with the customer, including technical scoping of follow-on work
- Recommend cost-effective, technically sound solutions to address program challenges, engineering trade-offs, and/or opportunities
Job Requirements & Skills
- Solid understanding of program and product management techniques, including risk management, and requirements traceability
- Must demonstrate understanding and utilization of Microsoft Project (or equivalent scheduling tools)
- Familiarity with technical documentation standards, including Statements of Work (SOW), Technical Specifications, Interface Control Documents (ICDs), and Data Item Descriptions (DIDs)
- Working knowledge of hardware/product development lifecycles (concept through production), including design reviews, prototyping, and transition to manufacturing
- Understanding of relevant defense/export compliance frameworks (e.g., ITAR/EAR) as applicable to program execution
- Exercise leadership competencies in customer focus, open and direct communication, conflict resolution, being a change driver, process improvement, ethics, compliance and safety
- Demonstrated ability to communicate technical concepts clearly with all levels of personnel, from engineers to executive management and customers
- Proven experience with relevant products, sensor/electro-optic, and industry knowledge
- Must demonstrate the following skills: excellent written and verbal technical communication, organization and planning, technical problem analysis and problem-solving, team leadership, formal technical presentation, persuasiveness, adaptability, innovation, sound engineering judgment, decision-making, stress tolerance, collaboration, self-motivation, and risk identification and management
- Travel 20% of the time
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a technical field: Industrial Engineering / Electrical Engineering / Electronics / Mechanical Engineering / Optical Engineering / Physics
- Five plus (5+) years of Technical Project/Program Management experience preferred, ideally on hardware/electro-optic, sensor, or electromechanical systems
- Three plus (3+) years of Project/Program/Product Management in the Defense Industry preferred
- Working knowledge of systems engineering principles (requirements decomposition, verification & validation, integration & test)
- Program Management Professional (PMP) Certification is a plus
- Systems Engineering (INCOSE/CSEP) or Six Sigma/Lean certification is a plus
- Ability to acquire a US Security Clearance is a plus
