Sr. A&D Program Manager

Fathom Mfg•Hartland, WI

11h•$100,000 - $130,000

About The Position

Fathom is seeking an experienced Senior A&D Program Manager to lead complex, multi-year aerospace and defense manufacturing programs from pre-award planning and customer onboarding through qualification, production launch, ramp, and sustained delivery. The role is the single point of accountability for overall program performance, aligning customer commitments with execution across Fathom manufacturing sites and its approved supplier network. The manager owns the integrated program plan, financial performance, delivery commitments, risk management, and customer communication, coordinating Applications Engineering, Sales, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, and Finance. The position requires extensive experience managing programmatic manufacturing work involving multiple part families, interdependent workstreams, contractual milestones, and recurring production requirements. The successful candidate anticipates dependencies, manages competing priorities, protects profitability, and builds customer confidence. The role also supports expansion of customer programs, mentors program managers, and contributes reusable program-management practices.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive experience in aerospace and defense program management or closely related manufacturing leadership, including at least five years directly accountable for complex, multi-year manufacturing programs.
Proven experience leading programs with multiple part families, phased releases, interdependent projects, qualification requirements, and recurring production commitments.
Successful leadership across pre-award planning, contract review, new product introduction, qualification, production ramp, and sustained delivery.
Hands-on experience developing integrated schedules, work breakdown structures, resource plans, budgets, financial forecasts, risk registers, and executive scorecards.
Ability to identify critical-path exposure and translate complex dependencies into actionable execution plans.
Demonstrated ability to manage program economics, explain performance against budget, forecast cost and margin exposure, and lead recovery actions.
Strong working knowledge of precision CNC machining, complex assemblies, outside processing, and production qualification.
Ability to understand engineering drawings, GD&T, material and finish requirements, and manufacturing constraints sufficiently to challenge assumptions and coordinate decisions with technical experts.
Working knowledge of AS9100 quality-system expectations, ITAR-controlled work, customer-specific quality requirements, traceability, configuration management, and first-article inspection.
Experience serving as the primary program interface for aerospace OEMs, defense primes, or major tier suppliers.
Ability to communicate with engineering, procurement, quality, operations, and executive audiences, including during difficult performance discussions.
Demonstrated ability to align cross-functional teams without direct reporting authority, resolve competing priorities, hold owners accountable, and escalate with clear recommendations.
A proactive, structured approach to problem-solving and decision-making.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, business, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
Proficiency with program scheduling, ERP/MRP, CRM, and reporting tools.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing programs across multiple facilities or external manufacturing partners.
Exposure to additive manufacturing, sheet metal, and molding.
Familiarity with Nadcap-accredited special processes.
PMP or PgMP certification.
Experience mentoring other program managers.

Responsibilities

Lead assigned A&D programs across the full lifecycle, from opportunity qualification and pre-award planning through onboarding, development, qualification, production ramp, and ongoing execution.
Develop and manage program scope, work breakdown structures, integrated schedules, budgets, resource requirements, and customer milestones.
Coordinate dependencies across engineering, material procurement, tooling, outside processing, first-article inspection, and production.
Serve as the primary customer program leader, building relationships with customer program management, engineering, procurement, and quality stakeholders.
Lead program reviews, communicate performance and emerging risks, manage expectations, and present recovery plans when commitments are at risk.
Coordinate cross-functional customer teams and align manufacturing sites and approved suppliers around program plans, responsibilities, decision rights, and escalation paths.
Manage program budgets, revenue and margin forecasts, cost-to-complete estimates, and financial risks in partnership with Finance and Operations.
Track nonrecurring engineering, tooling, launch costs, and production performance against approved assumptions; drive corrective actions and support recovery of authorized customer-driven changes.
Partner with Sales, Applications Engineering, and estimating to develop executable pre-award proposals and lead the transition from award to execution.
Coordinate contract and requirement reviews; maintain visibility into drawing revisions, specification changes, quality clauses, and scope changes.
Ensure cost, schedule, qualification, and delivery impacts of changes are assessed and approved before implementation.
Maintain an actionable risk and issue register covering technical, quality, schedule, financial, capacity, and supply-chain exposures; assign owners, mitigation plans, and escalation decisions.
Translate customer forecasts, contractual milestones, and production releases into coordinated demand and capacity plans.
Partner with Operations and Supply Chain on long-lead materials, constrained processes, supplier readiness, and manufacturing transfers.
Coordinate with Quality and Compliance to ensure proposed execution paths and information sharing receive required approvals.
Lead internal execution reviews, customer program reviews, and executive escalations; maintain dashboards and ensure decisions, commitments, and corrective actions are documented and closed.
Partner with Sales and Applications Engineering to identify follow-on opportunities, additional part families, and program expansion.
Mentor program managers and contribute onboarding playbooks, governance templates, lessons learned, and best practices.