Director of Programs
Apply for Director of Programs Position
Location: Columbia, MD
Posted: 07/18/2023
Job Duties Summary: The Director of Programs role includes responsibility for leading multiple program / project teams to execute delivery and support using the latest products in our voice & data product line. This role applies formal program execution experience and a technical background to direct all engineering development, production / delivery, and customer support phases of programs/projects. The Director of Programs provides strategic direction and ensures the teams follow development/program management best practices, program controls are met, and drives program budget adherence and overall project execution. The Director position also includes direct management of other Program Managers in best practice program management through informal and formal means such as schedule / budget planning reviews, schedule building, and managing challenging team dynamics. Responsibilities include process development and oversight and the planning / coordination of all costs, milestones, quality aspects and resources and compliance with reporting & escalation to executive management.
Major Functional Areas and Description of Duties
- Direct management and leadership of staff Program Managers
- Strategic planning for execution of company business pursuits and contracts
- Understand and comprehend customer requirements / needs
- Develop program execution strategies and plans to meet delivery requirements
- Identify program resources required, assign individual responsibilities, and ensure proper staffing of programs
- Create and maintain project work plans, schedules, and revisions as appropriate to meet customer’s changing needs and requirements
- Lead, direct and be responsible for day-to-day aspects, on-time delivery, and risk management of programs
- Hold team members and functions accountable for on-time execution of project deliverables escalating issues when necessary to provide core team members with needed support
- Effectively communicate relevant project information to superiors, resolving and/or escalating issues in a timely manner.
- Tactfully communicate difficult/sensitive information internally and to the customer
- Manage and actively control project budget and costs, track and report program expenses
- Understand and manage the economic and contractual impact throughout the course of the project and control associated risks
- Continually work to increase program profitability
- Identify business development and “add-on” sales opportunities as they relate to a specific project
- Lead proposal efforts including project scoping and Level of Effort assessments
- Mentor junior project/program managers in fundamentals of project and account management
- Development and oversight of PM processes to support continuous improvement in support of company quality objectives and ISO9001\ISO 9001_2015 compliance.
Experience
- Leadership experience in strategic product and customer development
- Extensive experience in building and leading small to large project teams
- Program Management experience of FAA contracts or FAR/AMS-based projects
- Experience with contracting standards
- Ability to independently grasp and solve tasks with high complexity
- Hands-on experience developing Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) and Earned Value budget baselines (i.e., schedule, cost performance and reporting using EVMS principles)
- Requires extensive expertise and knowledge of MS Project and Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, Outlook, Visio)
- Extensive and diverse experience with computer system hardware and software projects
- Experience managing direct reports with administrative support, training, and career development
Qualifications
- BS degree in Engineering desirable and minimum 15 years’ experience in program management and 5 years direct program manager management.
- PMI certification preferred
- Ability to work independently and effectively communicate progress/problems to customer and internal personnel
- Ability to interact and communicate effectually in a variety of roles with a wide variety of technical and non-technical management and staff as well as customer management and staff
- Demonstrated leadership abilities
Special Notations or Conditions of Employment
- Must be a United States citizen
- Job-related background check will be required to work on specific projects
- Willing to periodically travel to headquarters in Vienna, Austria for equipment training and product updates
- Willing to travel to customer sites for on-site coordination as necessary
