Associate Director, Program Management

Position Overview (Summary/Objective):

The Associate Director, Program Management’s role is to successfully capture and lead new space-based product development programs from initial concept to production. This Associate Director role will be responsible for a growing program portfolio of space based SDR’s (software defined radios) and other products serving military, intelligence, civil and commercial customers. The Associate Director is empowered to drive execution to deliver the programs on-time, on-budget and meeting 100% technical requirements.   Additionally, the Associate Director responsibility is to maintain positive customer relationships that yield future business after current programs are completed. This is a leadership position within a quickly growing company that is excited about our mission of connecting the universe.

This position will be based in Colorado Springs, CO.

• Lead development projects. The ultimate objective for this position is to successfully lead a technical team in a fast-paced environment from inception to production. The Associate Director, Program Management will utilize effective communication, problem resolution, technical decision making, and other project management skills to accomplish the objectives. Success criteria for this position will be development of a collaborative working relationship with the technical team and successful completion of the assigned product development and production projects by meeting all customer expectations, product technical performance, deliverable milestones on schedule and budget.
• Manage external customer expectations, communications, negotiations, and scope creep. The primary goal of the Associate Director, Program Management will be to successfully build and manage external customer relationships, communications, and expectations to reduce risk to the company utilizing effective communication and contract negotiation skills. A key skill for the Associate Director, Program Management will be their ability to identify scope creep and raise engineering change requests to eliminate NRE cost overruns and/or schedule delays.
• Resolve problems both internal and with the customer for both technical and commercial issues. The successful Associate Director, Program Management will leverage their problem resolution skills, communication skills, project management skills, and experience to resolve both technical and commercial issues with both internal and external customers in a timely and calm manner. Success criteria for this position will be resolving problems in a timely manner with positive concurrence from both sides.
• Lead product development technical, production, and commercial proposal activities. The successful Associate Director, Program Management will lead proposal efforts as capture manager. Proposal generation includes NRE and recurring cost analyses, schedule estimation, contract review/negotiations, and compliance matrix generation. Success criteria for this position will be submitting the completed thorough proposal on schedule meeting all customer RFP expectations.
• Effectively communicate, verbally and in writing, with engineering, operations, upper management and external stakeholders. The Associate Director, Program Management will effectively communicate with both internal and external stakeholders providing clear direction, planning, clarification, guidance, decisions, status, and issue resolution.
• PM Performance metrics include (1) On-Time Delivery (2) Meeting the Profit Target and (3) Customer Satisfaction Surveys.
• Proficient in utilizing Standard PMP tools/docs such Risk registers, Gantt Charts, Resource & Responsibility matrices, SOW’s, Requirements, Charters, Budget/Spend Management, and Materials Management.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in an engineering discipline (ME, EE, AE or CS)
• 15+ years of demonstrated experience as a Program Manager (Managing multiple external customer projects)
• 3+ years of experience as a practicing engineer in industry
• Experience working with hardware (mechanical & electrical) and software

Preferred Qualifications:

• Scrum or agile hardware development
• PMP or PGPM certification
• MBA
• Space or Aerospace background is a plus
• Experience using Microsoft Project
• Experience using Jira and Confluence
• Top Secret Security Clearance
• Experience in small company, start-up, or growth transition environment

Pay Range: $180,000 – $220,000

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

The application window will close in 40 days 

Location:

This position is based out of ARKA’s Colorado Springs, CO campus. If you like city life, but also enjoy the great outdoors, Colorado Springs is the place for you. The city rests at the base of Pikes Peak. The 14,115-foot summit is just one of dozens of area attractions, including scenic trains, museums, parks, a zoo and more. With a mild climate and plenty of sunshine, the Springs boasts some of the state’s best recreation opportunities. The city is also known for its robust high-tech and sports industries. We are home to the U.S. Air Force Academy and four military bases and with the Olympic Training Center and dozens of sports federations nearby, it’s common to spot world-class athletes around town.

What We Offer:

• Comprehensive medical/vision/dental insurance packages
• Company contributions to qualified HSA accounts
• 401k retirement plan with industry leading company contributions
• 3 weeks of vacation accrual per year plus time off for sick leave and unscheduled life events
• 13 paid holidays
• Continuing education benefit up to $25k/year for approved programs
• Annual bonus program based on company and employee performance
• Company paid life insurance, AD&D, Short-Term and Long-Term disability insurance
• 4 weeks paid Parental Leave
• Employee assistance program (EAP)

EHS/Environmental Requirements:

This job operates in a professional office environment. While performing the duties of this job, the employee routinely is required to use hands to keyboard, communicate, listen to, and interpret instructions and remain stationary for extended periods of the time. This would require the ability to move around the campus and occasionally move/lift items weighing up to 40 lbs. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

Applicants are invited to apply for a reasonable accommodation to perform the essential duties of the job. To apply, send a request to staffing@arka.org or contact 203-797-5000 and press 2 for Human Resources.

ITC & Security Clearance Requirements:

This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a US Government Security Clearance. The form contained in this link will provide insight into the information the government requests as part of the clearance process. https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf86.pdf.

Visa Restrictions:

No visa sponsorship is available for this position.

Employment with any of the ARKA Group companies in the US is contingent upon satisfactory completion of several pre-employment requirements to include a credit check, background check and drug screen.

ARKA Group L.P. is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age, or any other federally protected class.