Senior Program Manager - Aviation programs

49North•Richmond, BC

7h•CA$122,400 - CA$168,300

About The Position

49North is a Canadian defence company delivering secure, multi-domain C4ISR capabilities that provide decision advantage in complex and contested environments. A wholly-owned subsidiary of MDA Space, building on more than five decades of trusted Canadian defence delivery, 49North operates as a sovereign Canadian provider of mission-critical C4ISR systems, bringing disciplined prime-contractor execution to defence and security programs. 49North Defence strengthens Canada’s sovereign defence capability by delivering integrated mission systems and multi-domain C4ISR integration, enabling trusted Canadian and coalition operations, assured interoperability, and sustained readiness. The Aviation Program is comprised of two main projects Global Procedure Designed (GPD) and Automated Charting and Encoding (ACE). GPD was originally developed in the early 2000’s for the USAF. GPD is an easy-to-use Windows based decision support application that enables procedure design specialists to rapidly create an instrument procedure anywhere in the world. The application integrates a GIS module for procedure design visualization and drag-and-drop operations fine-tuning to avoid terrain and obstacles. GPD supports many standard input and output data formats (e.g., AIXM, ARINC, DAFIF and DVOF). In 2022 GPD was enhanced for NAV CANADA with many features including TP308 criteria and support standard terminal arrival route and enroute procedures. GPD is currently in use by more than 350 design specialists, building and evaluating procedures for locations all over the world. ACE is a next generation aeronautical chart management solution that provides fully automated chart production directly from aeronautical data sources. Automatically transforming digital flight procedures into interactive, publication-quality aeronautical charts. Transforming operations through a dramatic reduction in the time and cost required to generate aeronautical charts and ARINC encodings. The speed, simplicity and power of ACE were drivers in the National Geospatial Agency’s decision to implement ACE as the standard for automated aeronautical chart generation. Strategic Impact: Overall authority and responsibility for the Program Strategic alignment of projects to business objectives and customer contracts Stakeholder alignment & satisfaction across internal and external partners Delivery excellence: on-time, on-budget, in-scope Team performance & accountability: clear priorities, realistic plans, predictable outcomes, empowerment Risk & opportunity management: identify early, mitigate, and leverage

Requirements

BSc, BEng, or equivalent in an engineering or applied science discipline
Minimum 15 years of experience in program/project management, preferably in a safety-critical/mission-critical regulated software or systems engineering environment
Proven past performance leading multi-disciplinary software engineering teams
Strong understanding of financial tracking and reporting
Strong leadership, communication and interpersonal skills
Result orientated and exhibits excellent critical thinking
Works well in a dynamic environment where some of the parameters are unknown and some change regularly
Strong knowledge of system and/or software engineering standards, methodologies, and lifecycle practices
Flexibility: does what needs to be done, makes sure nothing slips through the cracks
Strong understanding of Aviation domain, workflows and data requirements

Nice To Haves

Experience in product-based, design-to-cost environments considered an asset

Responsibilities

Execution: Accountable for integrated cross-functional project execution, remove barriers, enforce baselines, drive issue resolution
Cross‑functional orchestration with Planning, Finance, Supply Chain/Subcontracts
Establish a continuous improvement culture to improve tools, systems and business processes
Schedule & cost: Own IMS, monitor and control, act early on variances, implement recovery actions with Finance alignment
Own overall delivery within cost, schedule, scope envelope
Maintain quality, on-time deliveries and within budget
Stakeholders & communications: Own customer interface and internal stakeholders, provide transparent status, maintain shared situational awareness and support
Customer/commercial interface, stakeholder alignment and communications
Collaboration and communication with internal stakeholders; Engineering, Contracts, Quality and Finance departments, in support of portfolio execution
Effective Team Leadership: Guides Project Leads or Team Leads within their scope, fostering accountability and efficient execution through effective leadership skills
Manage Program-resourcing levels, in collaboration with Engineering and Talent Acquisition.
Grow the technical team, onboard new hires, provide growth opportunities for the existing team, set clear goals
Planning (baseline WBS & IMS): define milestones/critical path, integrate risks, resources, and assumptions validated with functions
Forecasting: surface early indicators, address root causes, drive corrective actions and options
Scope & requirements: Formal change control with Contracts/Engineering, ensure traceability and acceptance evidence, protect baselines and prevent scope creep
Risk & opportunity management: escalate beyond authority with options & recommendations
Support BD to grow business: develop existing and new customers