Senior Program Manager, Shipbuilding

LED FastStart•New Orleans, LA

20d

About The Position

Saronic Technologies is seeking a Program Manager to own execution and delivery of major shipbuilding programs. The company’s shipbuilding capacity is located at its shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana, and Port Alpha in Brownsville, Texas. The role manages large-scale production and is accountable for cost, schedule, scope, quality, and customer outcomes from contract award through delivery and sustainment. The Program Manager oversees production-scale ships for a wide and evolving range of missions. The role requires expertise in large-scale shipbuilding and rate production, along with the ability to manage modular kits, payloads, and mission-package integration. The position balances production throughput with mission flexibility, including how a common hull is configured, reconfigured, and sustained for different customer needs. As the primary customer-facing relationship owner, the Program Manager partners with Saronic’s growth, engineering, production, and quality teams to manage government stakeholders and contracts. The role makes technical decisions aligned with customer needs and contractual requirements and leads program execution for a large, complex platform at scale.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Naval Architecture, or a related technical field.
At least 9 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.
Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time.
Eligibility for a Secret security clearance is required; an active clearance is preferred.
Ability to perform the listed physical demands, including occasional lifting and carrying of items up to 20 pounds.

Nice To Haves

Program management experience with Unmanned Surface Vessels is highly desirable.
Experience managing rate production, including supply chain, build sequencing, and delivery of large or complex hardware systems, is highly desirable.
Active Secret security clearance preferred.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end execution of commercial and/or government shipbuilding programs, including cost, schedule, scope, and quality from award through delivery and sustainment.
Lead customer contracts, deliverables, milestones, CDRLs, and contractual obligations.
Build and maintain integrated program plans that align 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 program health, forecasts, and decisions to Saronic leadership and customer stakeholders.
Partner with Franklin and/or Port Alpha production teams 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 maintain throughput and meet quality and acceptance criteria.
Monitor and mitigate 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.
Own configuration strategy for ship classes across mission packages, kits, and payloads on a common production hull.
Partner 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 reflected in the master program plan.
Capture mission-package lessons learned and feed them into production and product roadmaps.
Serve as the primary 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 reports to leadership and customer audiences.
Direct and synchronize cross-functional teams spanning Production, Engineering, Software, Mission Services, and Forward Deployed Engineering.
Partner with Technical Program Managers to align technical execution with program commitments.
Make and defend tradeoff decisions across capability, schedule, cost, and risk.
Drive configuration management across vessels, kits, payloads, and software versions.

Benefits

Medical insurance; Saronic pays 100% of the employee premium 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, including a 24/7 Telehealth helpline.
Free lunch benefit and unlimited free drinks and snacks in the office.