Deputy Program Manager, Shipbuilding

Saronic Technologies•Austin, TX

About The Position

Saronic Technologies is seeking a Deputy Program Manager to own the execution and delivery of major shipbuilding programs. The role supports large-scale production and is accountable for cost, schedule, scope, quality, and customer outcomes from contract award through delivery and sustainment. Shipbuilding takes place at Saronic’s shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana, and Port Alpha in Brownsville, Texas. The Deputy Program Manager brings expertise in large-scale shipbuilding and rate production, together with an understanding of modular kits, payloads, and mission-package integration. The role balances production throughput with the flexibility to configure, reconfigure, and sustain common hulls for diverse customer missions. This is a customer-facing role that works closely with Saronic’s growth, engineering, production, and quality teams. The Deputy Program Manager manages government stakeholders and contracts, supports technical decision-making aligned with customer needs and contract requirements, and provides programmatic stewardship of a large, complex platform at scale.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Naval Architecture, or a related technical field.
4–6+ years of experience in program management of large-scale production, shipbuilding, or complex defense development programs.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to interface confidently with technical and non-technical audiences.
Demonstrated ownership of cost, schedule, and scope on programs of significant size and complexity.
Proven ability to manage government or defense customers, contracts, and deliverables.
Ability to own a large, complex program end-to-end while balancing production throughput and mission flexibility.
Ability to connect production and configuration decisions to program cost, schedule, and mission outcomes.
Ability to translate evolving customer requirements into disciplined, executable program plans.
Experience leading high-performing, cross-functional, and distributed teams.
Track record of clear, consistent, and correct communications with peers, leaders, and external stakeholders.
Comfort guiding customers through ambiguous or evolving requirements and shaping actionable solutions.
U.S. Person status is required for U.S.-based roles because the position requires access to export-controlled information or items.

Nice To Haves

Program management experience with Unmanned Surface Vessels.
Experience managing production at rate, including supply chain, build sequencing, and delivery of large or complex hardware systems.

Responsibilities

Support the daily execution of commercial and/or government shipbuilding programs, overseeing cost, schedule, scope, and quality from contract award through delivery and sustainment.
Steward customer contracts, deliverables, milestones, CDRLs, and contractual obligations.
Execute the integrated program plan, aligning production schedules, engineering milestones, and integration timelines with customer commitments.
Manage program risks and opportunities, escalating and resolving issues that threaten cost, schedule, or performance.
Report and brief program health, forecasts, and decisions to Saronic leadership and customer stakeholders.
Partner with production teams in Franklin and/or Port Alpha to plan and execute rate production of large autonomous or manned ships, from long-lead procurement through construction, outfitting, and delivery.
Monitor build sequencing, work breakdown, and production milestones to protect throughput while meeting quality and acceptance criteria.
Monitor and mitigate shipbuilding production risks involving supply chain, labor, tooling, and facility constraints.
Coordinate with Quality and Production to ensure build configurations and acceptance events meet customer and contractual standards.
Execute the ship-class configuration strategy across mission packages, kits, and payloads on a common production hull.
Work with Mission Package Integration Managers to plan integration of bespoke and commercial-off-the-shelf kits into production and delivery.
Balance production standardization with mission-driven variation while protecting throughput and enabling flexibility.
Ensure integration timelines, dependencies, and configuration baselines are included in the master program plan.
Capture mission-package lessons learned and provide them to production and product roadmaps.
Serve as a customer point of contact, managing expectations, requirements, and relationships throughout the program lifecycle.
Elicit and clarify evolving mission needs and translate them into actionable program and technical direction.
Lead program reviews, delivery events, and technical exchanges with government stakeholders, operators, and evaluators.
Provide clear program updates and after-action reporting to leadership and customers.
Support and synchronize a cross-functional program team spanning Production, Engineering, Software, Mission Services, and Forward Deployed Engineering.
Align technical execution with programmatic commitments in partnership with cross-functional and technical teams.
Synthesize tradeoff decisions across capability, schedule, cost, and risk.
Execute configuration management across vessels, kits, payloads, and software versions.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical insurance; Saronic pays 100% of employee premiums and 80% of dependent premiums.
Dental and vision insurance; Saronic pays 100% of the basic-plan employee premium and 80% of dependent premiums.
Generous paid time off and holidays.
Paid maternity and paternity leave.
Competitive salary with opportunities for performance-based bonuses.
401(k) plan with company match.
Stock options.
Basic life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage.
Discounted pet insurance options, including a 24/7 telehealth helpline.
Free lunch benefit and unlimited free drinks and snacks in the office.