Associate Director - HR Focused Program Manager

RTX•Clovis, CA

24d•Remote

About The Position

At RTX, the world largest aerospace and defense company, 185,000 great minds are united by purpose and inspired to make a difference solving the world’s most complex problems. With our three market leading businesses, world-class operations and investments in research and development, we offer capabilities and opportunity no one else can. Together, we push the boundaries of known science and find new ways to connect and protect our world. Join us and help shape the future of aerospace and defense. The following position is to join our RTX Corporate Enterprise Applications Team: RTX Enterprise Services (ES) is seeking a Digital Technologies (DT) Associate Director – Program Manager (PM) to join the ES Applications Value Management Office (VMO). The VMO emphasizes multi‑mode value delivery, including traditional project management, Agile product delivery, and program financial analysis. While this role follows a traditional PM structure today, it is expected to increasingly lean into Agile delivery. The Program Manager will lead the largest and most complex digital transformation initiatives within the HR and Payroll domains. This position blends deep HR and payroll expertise with strong program management, PMO governance, and technology‑driven change leadership. The role partners closely with HR, Payroll, Finance, IT, and external vendors to deliver scalable solutions, streamline processes, and ensure operations remain accurate, efficient, compliant, and aligned with enterprise strategy. Our VMO is part of an enterprise shared services organization and is responsible for leading significant business technology programs that reach across the company. Our programs primarily focus on application development, enhancements, and modernization. Many are SaaS software implementations & customizations. We also execute infrastructure programs and business process improvements with a digital slant. Our PMs are delivery professionals who enable teams to perform to their highest potential.

Requirements

Typically a university degree and 12 years prior relevant experience OR an Advanced Degree in related field and minimum 10 years experience OR in absence of a degree, 15+ years of relevant experience is required
8+ years experience with program management oversight of DT software development or infrastructure initiatives with 3+ years experience building and managing schedules in MS Project.
Experience with managing HR and payroll systems such as Workday, ADP, Oracle, or similar platforms.
Proven experience managing large scale programs involving complex enterprise systems, such as ERP, Payroll, Data Repository, or Engineering systems.
Demonstrated ability to interface and collaborate with concurrent Enterprise programs, managing dependencies, resources, and schedule.

Nice To Haves

Expert in creating visually appealing, executive-level PowerPoint presentations with advanced proficiency with Microsoft applications (MS Project add-ins/extensions, Excel pivots/analysis, SharePoint advance features, etc.)
Experience developing & managing financial business cases & cost/benefit analyses for DT programs.
Experience with integrating multiple project methodologies including waterfall & Agile frameworks like SAFe.
Role model in exhibiting and intentionally developing leadership behaviors in yourself & others by Driving Results, Instilling Trust, Collaborating and Communicating Effectively, maintaining Customer Focus and demonstrating Courage and Strategic Vision.
SAFe or similar agile certifications and Project Management certification (PMP, etc.)

Responsibilities

Lead & drive our largest and most complex DT programs, showing up with an entrepreneurial sense of urgency and ownership, as if you were investing your own money in the program’s results.
Serve as the primary point of contact between HR, Finance, Accounting, Technology, and third‑party payroll vendor.
Collaborate closely with HR Business Partners to deliver payroll guidance during reorganizations, M&A, employee transitions, and policy updates and system enhancements
Understand and support the Strategic Vision of the organization and ensure strategic alignment as a trusted advisor.
Foster trust and cultivate a collaborative partnership with digital and functional executive sponsors, ensuring a deep understanding of their strategic priorities & perspectives to drive alignment and shared success.
Ability to seamlessly navigate the political landscape amongst senior leaders in the function and DT.
Oversee all the normal PM fundamentals: project schedule, key decisions, resources, financials, requirements, issues, risks, dependencies.
Drive the program’s delivery cadence and maintain momentum and accountability, blending agile & waterfall techniques as needed.
Continuously demonstrate progress, provide status reports/briefings.
Create compelling materials to effectively communicate with senior/executive leaders the value delivery story for the program.
Efficiently shepherd your programs through our phase-gated project governance framework.
Maintain the team’s focus on critical cyber, architecture, and compliance artifacts and secure relevant approvals at each gate.
With grit and tenacity, attack complex issues and challenges for your program.
Initiate and skillfully navigate tactful executive escalations to drive critical decisions while preserving trust, maintaining relationships, and fostering a constructive path forward.
In addition to delivering exceptional results on your assigned program, you’ll participate in efforts to continuously enhance and mature our PM services while evolving our value management capabilities.