Senior Program Manager

By Light Professional IT Services LLC•Port Orange, FL

About The Position

The Senior Program Manager at By Light oversees the cost, schedule, and technical compliance of a portfolio of customer-funded programs and internal research and development (IR&D) initiatives. The role takes a hands-on approach to managing customer relationships and communications across multiple concurrent programs and projects, while supporting future growth and capture opportunities. The ideal candidate has program management and capture management experience in complex programs within a fast-paced product development and defense contractor environment, and can support strategic internal investments aligned with future business opportunities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Project Management, Engineering, Business Management, or a related field; Engineering is preferred.
10 or more years of proven program management success.
Experience constructing complex multidisciplinary technology programs and managing key performance risks.
Experience as a capture manager or systems engineer on one or more programs.
Fluency with Microsoft Project and Excel.
Ability to obtain a Secret Clearance.
Willingness to travel up to 50%.
Capability to sit for extended periods.

Nice To Haves

Ten or more years of experience managing multimillion-dollar projects or programs.
VR/AR, simulation, or similar technology experience.
Exposure to and experience with JIRA.

Responsibilities

Actively participate in proposal development and contract negotiations.
Build pricing and work-breakdown strategies during the close-in capture process.
Set up and activate project sites in accordance with By Light PM ISO Procedures.
Develop project schedules covering costs, deliverables, risks, issues, and resource allocation across concurrent programs and IR&D efforts.
Establish budgets and cost controls, including understanding cost structure, pool rates, and estimates to complete (ETCs).
Collaborate with functional managers to define and allocate resources in a finite-capacity environment supporting contracted programs and IR&D projects.
Participate in iteration planning meetings to help ensure project milestones are met.
Identify and manage issues and risks to support successful and timely delivery across the program portfolio.
Conduct requirements and design reviews to ensure products meet customer needs and corporate objectives.
Work with stakeholders to ensure features comply with technical specifications.
Provide ongoing project gap analysis and offer options, solutions, and corrective actions to maintain project success.
Manage customer expectations and seek favorable decisions and outcomes from customer partners.
Develop revenue growth opportunities.
Manage and prioritize customer-funded programs and internal IR&D projects, aligning them with corporate strategy, technical roadmaps, and future capture objectives.
Oversee IR&D project execution, including scope definition, cost tracking, schedule adherence, and technical maturity.
Manage and prioritize the project portfolio in collaboration with internal stakeholders to deliver programmatic earnings and exceed customer expectations.
Perform additional duties as necessary.