Senior Program Manager

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Business Unit: Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems (EOIS) 
Location: Cypress, CA
Career Functional Area: Program Management
Telework Type: Onsite with potential for hybrid
Relocation Available: Yes
Type: Exempt
Schedule: 9/80
Shift: 1st

Job Summary

The Senior Program Manager leads the planning, execution, and delivery of multiple technology-development and flight-hardware programs supporting next-generation electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) space-sensing capabilities. Programs may range from Internal Research and Development (IRAD) efforts through customer-funded development, qualification, and flight-hardware delivery programs.

This role is accountable for achieving established technical, cost, schedule, quality, and contractual objectives. The Senior Program Manager leads integrated product teams from program initiation through closeout; maintains an executable integrated master schedule; manages program risks, opportunities, resources, and financial performance; and ensures timely decisions and issue resolution across engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, test, contracts, finance, and other functional organizations.

The Senior Program Manager serves as a primary internal and external program interface and works under the general guidance of senior leadership, including the Director of Programs and/or Line of Business Lead.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead the daily execution of assigned technology-development, EO/IR sensor, and flight-hardware programs in accordance with contractual, technical, cost, schedule, quality, and regulatory requirements.
• Establish, lead, and maintain the integrated product team structure from program kickoff through closeout. Drive alignment among engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, test, finance, contracts, and other functional stakeholders.
• Develop, maintain, and execute integrated master schedules and associated program plans. Ensure that technical activities, material availability, manufacturing, integration, test, qualification, and delivery milestones are logically linked, adequately resourced, and actively managed.
• Lead technical and programmatic integration across system, subsystem, payload, optical, sensor, electronics, mechanical, software, manufacturing, and test functions. Identify and resolve interface issues, integration constraints, technical dependencies, and readiness gaps.
• Establish and manage program baselines for scope, schedule, budget, staffing, and technical performance. Control changes through appropriate program, engineering, configuration-management, and contractual processes.
• Allocate and control contract budgets for labor, material, travel, subcontracts, and purchased services. Monitor financial performance and provide accurate, timely program status to senior management.
• Perform formal and informal schedule and cost variance analysis, including earned value management system (EVMS) reporting where applicable. Develop and implement corrective-action and recovery plans when performance deviates from approved plans.
• Proactively identify, assess, document, monitor, and mitigate program risks and opportunities throughout the program lifecycle. Escalate material technical, cost, schedule, quality, or contractual risks to senior management in a timely manner.
• Lead program reviews, including internal management reviews, customer reviews, technical reviews, design reviews, readiness reviews, and milestone decision meetings. Ensure action items, decisions, and commitments are documented, assigned, and closed.
• Serve as the primary customer interface for matters related to program execution. Coordinate internally to resolve customer issues, communicate program status, and manage customer expectations.
• Coordinate with Contracts Administration on contract requirements, interpretations, modifications, deliverables, and customer correspondence. Support contract and subcontract negotiations while ensuring compliance with applicable regulations and Company policies.
• Partner with Engineering leadership to resolve technical execution barriers, establish priorities, manage resource needs, and ensure that engineering work products support program commitments.
• Support material execution and supply-chain performance, including long-lead material planning, supplier coordination, subcontractor performance, material availability, and mitigation of supply risks.
• Lead or support bid and proposal activities, including proposal planning, requirements analysis, schedule and cost development, risk assessment, technical coordination, and preparation of compliant proposal content.
• Collaborate with Business Development to identify follow-on work, customer needs, and new business opportunities that align with organizational strategy.

Ensure program execution complies with applicable Company policies, procedures, export-control requirements, Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements, and other customer or regulatory obligations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Finance, Supply Chain, or a related discipline; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
• Minimum of 7 years of relevant program-management, project-management, engineering, or technical leadership experience, preferably supporting EO/IR sensor development, space systems, airborne systems, terrestrial sensing systems, or comparable aerospace/defense products.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical development programs from proposal or program startup through design, integration, test, delivery, and sustainment or follow-on support.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and integrate work across engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, test, finance, and contracts.
• Experience developing, maintaining, and executing integrated master schedules, resource plans, budgets, and program performance reporting.
• Experience with earned value management, cost and schedule performance measurement, variance analysis, estimate-at-completion forecasting, and corrective-action planning.
• Experience with risk and opportunity management, including identification of technical, cost, schedule, supply-chain, quality, and contractual risks; development of mitigation plans; and escalation of material issues.
• Working knowledge of proposal development, requirements decomposition, statements of work, subcontractor management, and customer/contractual deliverables.
• Familiarity with aerospace and defense program execution requirements, including contract compliance, export-control considerations, and applicable government regulations.
• Strong leadership, judgment, problem-solving, presentation, written communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ownership, initiative, and ability to resolve complex problems in a fast-paced, technically demanding environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• • Program Management Professional (PMP), Defense Acquisition University (DAU), or comparable program-management certification.
  • Experience managing aerospace or defense programs as a prime contractor or subcontractor supporting domestic or international military, civil-space, or commercial-space customers.
  • Experience with EO/IR payloads, optical systems, focal-plane arrays, sensors, precision mechanical systems, electronics, software, environmental qualification, or flight-hardware integration.
  • Experience leading programs with significant hardware integration, qualification, manufacturing readiness, and test execution requirements.
  • Experience with government and commercial contracting, subcontract management, and export-control compliance.