[Hiring] Senior Program Manager @KH Aerospace

Role Description

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.

Work Location & Travel: This is a remote position requiring up to 25% travel to support customer engagements, program execution, and company operations.

Key Responsibilities

• PMO Development & Governance:
  • Establish, implement, and mature the company’s Program Management Office (PMO) while concurrently managing assigned programs.
  • Develop standardized program management processes, governance, reporting, and tools to drive accountability, cross-functional alignment, predictable execution, and on-time delivery across the organization.
• Project Manager Development & Mentorship:
  • Train, mentor, and develop junior Project Managers by providing hands-on coaching.
  • Establish standardized project management practices and reinforce best practices in planning, scheduling, risk management, stakeholder communication, and execution.
  • Build organizational project management competency through structured training, performance feedback, and progressive delegation of responsibilities.
• Lead one or more complex programs, establishing integrated schedules, budgets, milestones, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and clear ownership across functional teams.
• Manage, train, and mentor individual Project Managers. Set clear priorities and performance expectations, provide regular coaching and feedback, and develop their skills in planning, financial management, risk mitigation, and customer communication.
• Partner with Business Development and Solutions Engineering on proposals, rough-order-of-magnitude estimates, execution assumptions, and achievable customer commitments; lead the transition from award into execution.
• Translate contract requirements into coordinated engineering, production, test, and delivery plans. Align technical configurations, dependencies, and readiness criteria with Engineering and Operations leaders.
• Own program financial performance with Finance, including budgets, actual costs, resource forecasts, estimates at completion, and margin risks. Develop recovery plans when performance deviates.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for program execution. Lead customer reviews, communicate progress and risks candidly, and drive resolution of delivery issues.
• Control scope and changes with Contracts and Finance. Assess cost, schedule, resource, and technical 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 that affect customer commitments.
• Maintain program risks, issues, decisions, and action plans. Escalate material concerns early with clear options, recommendations, and resource tradeoffs for leadership.
• Track contractual reporting, customer acceptance, and billing milestones. Coordinate applicable security, export, quality, and operational requirements with accountable specialists.
• Build practical program management processes and capture lessons learned. Coordinate handoffs to Client Success and support through the warranty period.

Qualifications

• 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; able to connect 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 the ability to explain technical tradeoffs and escalate 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.

Preferred Qualifications

• 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.

What Success Looks Like

• Customer commitments are met against approved scope, schedule, cost, and acceptance criteria.
• Leadership receives accurate forecasts, timely risk escalation, and clear decisions needed to keep programs on track.
• Engineering, Production, and Operations work from coordinated plans with realistic resource requirements and accountable owners.
• Customers receive operationally ready capabilities, responsive issue resolution, and a clear transition into ongoing support.