Program Manager - Aerospace & DefenseLocation: On-Site - Baton Rouge, LA, Frederick, MD or Glendale, AZ
Travel Requirement: Up to 20%
Clearance Requirement: U.S. Citizenship Required; eligibility for a DoD Security Clearance may be required
Position OverviewBascom Hunter is seeking an experienced Program Manager to lead complex Aerospace & Defense development and production programs. The Program Manager is responsible for execution across scope, schedule, cost, quality, technical performance, customer commitments, qualification, and production transition.
This role leads cross-functional teams across Engineering, Manufacturing, Test, Quality, Supply Chain, Configuration Management, Finance, and Contracts and serves as a primary interface with customers and key suppliers.
Key Responsibilities- Lead assigned programs from contract award through development, qualification, delivery, production transition, and closeout.
- Translate Statements of Work, specifications, contractual requirements, and customer deliverables into executable program plans.
- Develop and maintain product-oriented Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) consistent with MIL-STD-881 principles.
- Develop, baseline, and maintain Integrated Master Schedules (IMS), including schedule logic, critical path, major dependencies, customer milestones, procurement, test, qualification, and production activities.
- Apply Earned Value Management (EVM) principles to measure cost and schedule performance and identify adverse trends.
- Develop and maintain program budgets, labor and material forecasts, Estimates at Completion (EACs), and recovery plans for cost or schedule variances.
- Maintain traceability of customer requirements, verification activities, and contractual deliverables through program completion and customer acceptance.
- Coordinate resource and capacity planning with functional leaders to ensure engineering, manufacturing, procurement, and test support aligns with the program schedule.
- Plan and support major program and technical reviews including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, and PRR, as applicable.
- Establish and maintain program risk and opportunity management, including accountable mitigation actions.
- Maintain disciplined scope, schedule, cost, and technical baseline control and evaluate customer-requested changes before commitment.
- Monitor critical suppliers, subcontractors, long-lead items, and external dependencies that may affect program performance.
- Serve as a primary customer interface for program status, schedule, risks, deliverables, contractual commitments, and programmatic issues.
- Ensure contractual and program execution activities comply with applicable FAR/DFARS requirements, ITAR/EAR export controls, customer requirements, and internal quality systems.
- Support proposal development, cost estimating, Basis of Estimate preparation, and contract negotiations for new and follow-on opportunities.
- Support strategic planning, resource allocation, and long-term customer relationship development for assigned programs and business areas.
- Provide clear direction to cross-functional teams and escalate issues requiring functional or executive action.
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Program Management, Business, Operations, Physics, or a related technical discipline.
- 5+ years of relevant Aerospace & Defense, government contracting, engineering, or technical program-management experience.
- Experience managing complex technical or hardware-development programs through multiple phases of the product lifecycle.
- Working knowledge of Earned Value Management / EVMS.
- Experience developing and maintaining Work Breakdown Structures and Integrated Master Schedules.
- Familiarity with MIL-STD-881 or equivalent product-oriented WBS methodologies.
- Experience with critical-path scheduling, variance analysis, recovery planning, program budgets, forecasts, and EACs.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering, manufacturing, supply-chain, quality, and test teams.
- Experience managing multiple priorities and concurrent program activities.
- Strong understanding of government contracting and customer-facing program execution.
- Strong written, verbal, organizational, and presentation skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Project or comparable scheduling software.
- U.S. Citizenship required.
Preferred Qualifications- 8+ years of Aerospace & Defense program-management, engineering, manufacturing, or technical-leadership experience.
- Experience managing multimillion-dollar Aerospace & Defense development or production programs.
- Experience working with the Department of Defense, defense prime contractors, or aerospace OEMs.
- Working knowledge of EIA-748 EVMS principles and DoD acquisition processes.
- Experience with Firm-Fixed-Price and cost-type contracts.
- Familiarity with applicable military and aerospace qualification standards and formal customer design reviews.
- Familiarity with FAR/DFARS, ITAR/EAR, AS9100, configuration management, CDRLs/SDRLs, and government contracting requirements.
- Experience with Deltek Costpoint, ERP/MRP, PLM/PDM, or similar enterprise systems.
- Advanced degree or PMP certification is a plus.
Why Join Us?- Work on technically challenging Aerospace & Defense programs supporting mission-critical applications.
- Operate in a hands-on environment with direct interaction across engineering, manufacturing, customers, and suppliers.
- Have meaningful responsibility for program execution, customer relationships, and the continued growth of the organization.
All positions at Bascom Hunter are subject to background investigations. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background investigation, including criminal history and identity verification.
