Senior Program Manager

KH Aerospace

3d•Remote

About The Position

The Senior Program Manager owns delivery of assigned customer programs from proposal planning and contract award through development, production, fielding, sustainment, and closeout. This hands-on leader is accountable for scope, schedule, cost, risk, and customer commitments, translating mission needs into executable plans and coordinating teams across Engineering, Production, Operations, Finance, and Client Success. The role also establishes and matures the company’s Program Management Office (PMO), developing standardized processes, governance, reporting, and tools to support accountability, cross-functional alignment, predictable execution, and on-time delivery. The Senior Program Manager trains and mentors Project Managers and builds organizational project management capability through coaching, feedback, and progressive delegation. This is a remote position requiring up to 25% travel to support customer engagements, program execution, and company operations.

Requirements

Eight or more years of relevant program or project management experience, including at least three years leading complex technical programs across multiple functions.
Demonstrated delivery of aerospace, defense, unmanned systems, robotics, or comparable hardware and software programs from planning through customer acceptance.
Experience managing program budgets, forecasts, integrated schedules, contractual deliverables, risks, and changes, and connecting execution decisions to financial outcomes.
Ability to lead through influence, resolve competing priorities, and secure commitments from functional teams in a growing organization.
Strong customer-facing communication and executive briefing skills, including explaining technical tradeoffs and escalating issues with actionable recommendations.
Working knowledge of engineering development, systems integration, verification and validation, manufacturing, and field operations.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, program management, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional or military experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience with unmanned aircraft, autonomy, intelligence and surveillance systems, payload integration, or airborne communications.
Experience supporting U.S. government or international defense customers, including product deliveries and contractor-operated services.
Familiarity with government contracting, subcontract management, and applicable export or security requirements.
PMP certification or equivalent training; experience introducing practical program controls and reporting in a scaling company.

Responsibilities

Establish, implement, and mature the company’s PMO while managing assigned programs; develop standardized processes, governance, reporting, and tools.
Train, mentor, and develop Project Managers through coaching, standardized practices, performance feedback, and progressive delegation.
Lead complex programs by establishing integrated schedules, budgets, milestones, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and ownership across functional teams.
Partner with Business Development and Solutions Engineering on proposals, estimates, execution assumptions, customer commitments, and transitions from award into execution.
Translate contract requirements into coordinated engineering, production, test, and delivery plans; align technical configurations, dependencies, and readiness criteria.
Own program financial performance with Finance, including budgets, actual costs, resource forecasts, estimates at completion, and margin risks; develop recovery plans when needed.
Serve as the primary point of contact for program execution, lead customer reviews, communicate progress and risks, and resolve delivery issues.
Control scope and changes with Contracts and Finance; assess impacts and obtain required approvals before changing commitments.
Coordinate deployment readiness with Operations, including staffing, training, aircraft and equipment availability, subcontractor support, logistics, and sustainment requirements.
Manage supplier and subcontractor deliverables with functional owners, tracking dependencies, quality, schedule, and corrective actions.
Maintain program risks, issues, decisions, and action plans; escalate material concerns with options, recommendations, and resource tradeoffs.
Track contractual reporting, customer acceptance, and billing milestones; coordinate security, export, quality, and operational requirements with accountable specialists.
Build practical program management processes, capture lessons learned, coordinate handoffs to Client Success, and support programs through the warranty period.