Lead Program Manager

STR•Arlington, VA

2h•$147,000 - $200,000

About The Position

The Subsea and Seabed Systems (SSS) Group in STR’s Sensors Division is seeking a Lead Program Manager with a highly technical undersea warfare background to manage a portfolio of future undersea systems programs. The portfolio spans concept generation and prototype development, with the goal of progressing programs into low-rate initial production (LRIP) or production. The role requires experience across technology readiness stages and the ability to scale processes as needed. The position leads small, highly capable multidisciplinary teams of researchers, scientists, and engineers across STR campuses. It coordinates electrical and mechanical design, software development, system construction, integration, testing, and field execution to meet cost, schedule, and performance objectives on complex national security programs. A central responsibility is financial planning and execution: developing budgets and resource plans, maintaining forecasts, and making timely cost, schedule, and staffing decisions as technical priorities evolve. The Lead Program Manager also establishes and executes programmatic baselines, including personnel, deliverables, and subcontractor and contract-manufacturer management plans; anticipates risks; resolves resource, security, and contracting challenges; and manages customer, sponsor, and leadership expectations. The successful candidate will have significant, recent program management experience building fieldable systems and working knowledge of several relevant technical areas, such as undersea warfare, sonar, ocean engineering, modeling and simulation, test and evaluation, hardware design, software architecture, uncrewed underwater vehicles, resource management, signal processing, or communications. The position requires strong program management, leadership, communication, mentorship, and peer-leadership skills, including the ability to brief senior leadership and foster a collaborative, productive work environment. STR develops advanced research and technology for defense, intelligence, and national security. The company describes its culture as collaborative and learning-oriented, supporting deep technical understanding and recognizing team contributions. Positions require employees to obtain national security clearances and comply with export control and other applicable laws. U.S. citizenship is required for the specified clearance eligibility.

Requirements

Current TS/SSBI clearance; ability to gain and maintain SCI/SAP accreditations. U.S. citizenship is required by the U.S. government for this clearance eligibility.
Technical degree and 8+ years of relevant experience in government contracting, research and development, or advanced technology production; equivalent experience will be considered.
Program manager or control account manager experience in a design-and-development and/or build contract, including WBS definition, schedule generation, financial analysis and reporting, and resource management.
Demonstrated experience planning and executing finances for fast-paced, complex programs, including budget development, resource planning, financial 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 projects larger than $10 million for the Department of War.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Experience leading small, highly capable multidisciplinary teams executing complex advanced-technology programs spanning electrical and mechanical design, software development, system construction, integration, testing, and field execution.
Demonstrated ability to coordinate interdependent engineering disciplines and drive systems from design and build through integration, readiness, and successful execution in operationally relevant environments.
Strong presentation and organizational skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience with advanced undersea warfare system concepts, signal processing, underwater acoustics, and ocean engineering.
Experience with sonar systems.
Experience preparing, planning, and executing testing and fielding of advanced undersea systems and vehicles, including developing test objectives, coordinating personnel and resources, test readiness, at-sea execution, and post-test assessment.
Experience conducting operationally representative testing of advanced undersea systems in realistic maritime environments; working with operators, engineers, and government sponsors to translate mission needs and operating conditions into test scenarios and performance measures; and using results to inform system design, performance improvements, operational employment, and transition toward fieldable capability.
Work experience in government, FFRDC, or defense-industry companies and with 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 applications, including Microsoft Project, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Responsibilities

Execute multiple fast-paced, complex programs against cost, schedule, and technical objectives, with accountability for financial planning and performance.
Develop and maintain program budgets, time-phased spending plans, staffing and resource allocations, and estimates to complete and at completion across labor, materials, travel, subcontractors, and contract manufacturers.
Manage financial execution by reviewing actual costs and commitments, monitoring burn rates and funding availability, analyzing variances, and updating forecasts as program needs change.
Work with technical leads, finance, and contracts to assess cost and schedule tradeoffs, implement corrective actions, and communicate financial risks and resource needs to leadership and sponsors.
Lead proposals by contributing expertise to proposal development and ensuring adherence to a gated capture process.
Create subcontractor statements of work and manage and track subcontractors to ensure proper execution.
Work with contract manufacturers to build up to LRIP and meet LRIP milestones with high quality.
Lead multidisciplinary teams through design, build, integration, test readiness, and field execution, coordinating interdependent engineering activities to deliver fieldable systems.
Oversee preparation, planning, and execution of advanced undersea system testing, including test objectives, personnel and resource coordination, readiness activities, at-sea execution, and post-test assessment.
Provide regular program briefs to group and division leadership.
Create and maintain a collaborative team environment by giving clear direction and constructive feedback.
Monitor progress against goals, anticipate risks, resolve issues, and initiate corrective actions as appropriate.