Lead Program Manager

Description

The company's Sensors Division works on advanced sensor systems across RF, acoustic, and electro-optical domains, from early ideas through to prototypes.

The Subsea and Seabed Systems group builds undersea sensor and signal processing systems for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and counter-ISR work.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of future undersea system programs that move from concept and prototype toward low-rate initial production (LRIP) or full production.
• Lead small, highly capable, multidisciplinary teams of researchers, scientists, and engineers across company campuses, coordinating electrical and mechanical design, software, system build, integration, testing, and field work to hit cost, schedule, and performance targets on complex national security programs.
• Plan and run finances on fast-paced, complex programs: build credible budgets and resource plans, keep forecasts current, and make timely decisions on cost, schedule, and staffing as technical priorities shift.
• Build and carry out programmatic baselines, including personnel, deliverables, and plans for managing subcontractors and contract manufacturers.
• Spot risks early, resolve resource, security, and contracting problems, and manage expectations of customers, sponsors, and leadership.
• Execute multiple complex programs against cost, schedule, and technical goals, owning financial planning and performance.
• Build and maintain program budgets, time-phased spending plans, staffing and resource allocations, and estimates to complete and at completion for labor, materials, travel, subcontractors, and contract manufacturers.
• Review actual costs and commitments, track burn rates and funding, analyze variances, and update forecasts as needs change.
• Work with technical leads, finance, and contracts to weigh cost and schedule tradeoffs, take corrective action, and report financial risks and resource needs to leadership and sponsors.
• Support proposals with expertise in proposal development, following a gated capture process.
• Write subcontractor statements of work and track subcontractors to make sure they perform.
• Work with contract manufacturers to scale up to LRIP and hit LRIP milestones at high quality.
• Guide teams through design, build, integration, test readiness, and field execution, coordinating interdependent engineering work to deliver fieldable systems.
• Plan and run advanced undersea system tests, covering test objectives, people and resources, readiness, at-sea execution, and post-test assessment.
• Give regular program briefings to group and division leadership.
• Create a collaborative environment with clear direction and constructive feedback.
• Track progress against goals, anticipate risks, resolve issues, and start corrective actions when needed.

Requirements

• Active clearance, with current TS/SSBI and SCI preferred; must be able to obtain and maintain SCI/SAP accreditations, which requires U.S. citizenship.
• A technical degree and 8+ years of relevant experience in government contracting, research and development (R&D), or advanced technology production. Equivalent experience will be considered.
• Experience as a program manager or control account manager on design, development, and/or build contracts, including work breakdown structure (WBS) definition, schedule creation, financial analysis and reporting, and resource management.
• Proven record planning and managing finances on fast-paced, complex programs: budget development, resource planning, forecasting, cost and variance analysis, and timely corrective action to meet objectives within available funding.
• Experience in proposal management, including planning and cost estimation.
• Experience managing Department of War projects larger than $10M.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Experience leading small, highly capable, multidisciplinary teams on complex advanced-technology programs spanning electrical and mechanical design, software, system build, integration, test, and field execution.
• Ability to coordinate interdependent engineering disciplines and take systems from design and build through integration, readiness, and successful operation in realistic environments.
• Strong presentation and organizational skills.
• Desired qualifications:
• Experience with advanced undersea warfare system concepts, signal processing, underwater acoustics, and ocean engineering.
• Experience with sonar systems.
• Experience preparing, planning, and running testing and fielding of advanced undersea systems and vehicles, including test objectives, coordinating people and resources, readiness, at-sea execution, and post-test assessment.
• Experience running operationally representative tests of advanced undersea systems in realistic maritime settings, working with operators, engineers, and government sponsors to turn mission needs and operating conditions into test scenarios and performance measures, and using results to guide design, performance gains, operational use, and transition to fieldable capability.
• Work experience in government, FFRDC, or defense industry companies and sponsors.
• Earned value management system (EVMS) experience.
• Contract manufacturing experience.
• Risk and opportunity management experience.
• Experience managing research and development programs.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Microsoft Project, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Conditions

Full-time, salary range $147,000 - $200,000, based on external market data.

Offers depend on factors such as experience, education, training, key and critical skills, security clearances, and market and business conditions.

The company is a growing technology firm with sites near Boston, MA; Arlington, VA; Dayton, OH; Melbourne, FL; Carlsbad, CA; Atlanta, GA; and Denver, CO. It focuses on advanced R&D for defense, intelligence, and national security in cyber; next generation sensors, radar, sonar, communications, and electronic warfare; and AI algorithms and analytics.

Positions require national security clearances and compliance with export control and other applicable laws.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and hires the most qualified candidate regardless of protected characteristics under federal, state, or local law.

Benefits

• Work on undersea systems that shape the future of undersea defense, alongside a skilled team on hard, rewarding problems.
• You will manage programs that deliver advanced undersea technology that sailors rely on.