Associate Director, Portfolio Lead - Space Radios

ARKA Group L.P. (“ARKA”) is an advanced technologies company serving the U.S. military, intelligence community, and commercial space industry delivering next-generation solutions to support the national security space domain. ARKA has a 60-year legacy reaching back to the very beginning of our country’s space endeavors. We’re a legacy of mission excellence built on ground-breaking technologies. Join the ARKA mission and discover your next career opportunity now!

The Associate Director, Portfolio Lead – Space Radios role is to successfully capture and lead new space-based product development programs from initial concept to production. This Portfolio Lead 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 Portfolio Lead is empowered to drive execution to deliver the programs on-time, on-budget and meeting 100% technical requirements. Additionally, the Portfolio Lead has responsibility 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 addressing the hardest problems, with a relentless focus on innovation, agile development, and trusted partnership.

Responsibilities:

• Lead development projects within a portfolio of space based SDR’s. 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, Portfolio Lead will utilize experience in the area of space based SDR’s, 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 Associate Director, Portfolio Lead will 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, Portfolio Lead 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, Portfolio Lead 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, Portfolio Lead 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, Portfolio Lead 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.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in an engineering discipline (ME, EE, AE or CS)
• 7+ years of demonstrated experience as a Program Manager (Managing multiple external customer projects)
• 3+ years of experience as a practicing engineer in industry
• Extensive experience with Software Defined Radios (SDR) solutions
• Experience in qualifying space rated hardware
• Expertise in communication products and solutions
• Experience working with hardware (mechanical & electrical) and software
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance

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 U.S. Government Security Clearance
• Experience in small company, start-up, or growth transition environment

Pay Range:  

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.

Location:

This is a hybrid position based out of ARKA's Ypsilanti, MI campus. Ypsilanti, MI is artistic, genuine, and original. A college town and city located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County. Ypsilanti is all about community and making families new to the area feel right at home. From educational opportunities and local museums for all ages, to accessible healthcare and transportation it’s a wonderful location. It’s well known for its historical museums, parks, and historic districts as well as home to Eastern Michigan University. The University of Michigan and Michigan State University also are great institutions! Ann Arbor is close by and has many things, including a bustling university town, culinary hotspot, and a tech hub with a walkable downtown that includes world-class arts and culture. Located in southeast Michigan's Lower Peninsula, Ann Arbor lies at the center of a greater collection of communities in Washtenaw County. With so many thriving communities nearby, Ann Arbor has become a cultural melting pot and urban oasis.

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 25 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 U.S. 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 ARKA companies in the U.S. is contingent upon satisfactory completion of several pre-employment requirements to include a credit check, background check and drug screen.

ARKA 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.