Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Karman Space & Defense develops and produces mission-critical aerospace and defense systems for space and launch programs. The Principal Program Manager will lead enterprise-scale integration initiatives across sites, functions, and product lines, driving execution across cost, schedule, technical, quality, manufacturing, customer, and contractual objectives.
Responsibilities
- Leads enterprise-scale aerospace and defense programs from planning through qualification, industrialization, production ramp, and delivery
- Owns integrated performance across cost, schedule, technical, quality, customer, and contractual commitments; drives corrective actions when needed
- Develops and maintains integrated master plans and schedules connecting engineering, qualification, manufacturing readiness, staffing, capital, supply chain, and site dependencies
- Leads cross-site work transfers, ensuring strategy, readiness, configuration control, tooling, supplier transition, validation, and customer approvals
- Drives new product introduction and development-to-production transitions, ensuring design maturity, producibility, test readiness, configuration discipline, and production readiness
- Partners with engineering, manufacturing, and site leadership to establish executable manufacturing plans, rate ramps, constraint mitigation, capital needs, and recovery actions
- Identifies and manages technical, manufacturing, supply-chain, cost, schedule, quality, and customer risks; establishes mitigation plans and escalates only when required
- Leads high-consequence recovery efforts involving late hardware, quality escapes, supplier disruption, qualification challenges, or schedule compression
- Serves as a principal interface for customers, suppliers, prime contractors, U.S. Government stakeholders, and executive leadership, communicating program status and decisions
- Prepares and leads executive program reviews, manages contractual scope, supports proposals, and develops executable strategies for new business and growth initiatives
Skills
- Bachelor of Science in Engineering, a technical discipline, Business or Program Management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant aerospace or defense leadership experience
- 12 or more years of progressive experience in aerospace, defense, space, advanced manufacturing, or similarly complex technical environments, including responsibility for program execution, manufacturing integration, and cross-functional leadership
- Demonstrated success leading complex, multi-site or multi-business integration efforts with senior-executive visibility and accountability for cost, schedule, technical, manufacturing, customer, and growth outcomes
- Extensive experience managing complex aerospace and defense programs involving mission-critical flight hardware
- Hands-on leadership experience with manufacturing, new product introduction, industrialization, production-rate growth, work transfer, and cross-site execution
- Strong technical acumen with the ability to integrate engineering, manufacturing, qualification, quality, configuration, and supply-chain considerations
- Proven ability to operate independently in high-ambiguity environments while maintaining disciplined execution and strong executive communication
- Strong financial and business acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, cost/schedule tradeoffs, risk management, and contract performance
- Working knowledge of U.S. Government and prime-contractor program environments, formal deliverables, change control, and compliance expectations
- Ability and willingness to travel regularly among company sites, customers, suppliers, and partner locations
- Prolonged sitting, sustained computer use, and regular review of technical, financial, and program documentation. The essential functions of this position must be performed with or without reasonable accommodation
- Moderate travel up to 25%
- This position requires U.S. person status under U.S. export control laws, including U.S. citizens and nationals, lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees
- Master of Science in Engineering or a related technical discipline, Master of Business Administration, or other relevant advanced degree
- Experience managing Department of Defense, U.S. Government, allied-defense, or major prime-contractor programs
- Experience with propulsion, launch systems, payload integration, separation systems, energetic devices, or other mission-critical flight hardware
- Experience leading development-to-production transitions, qualification, rate ramp, and sustained manufacturing
- Experience managing factory transitions, consolidations, supplier transitions, or other strategic work transfers
- Knowledge of fixed-price, cost-reimbursable, and incentive-based contracts and corresponding program behaviors
- Experience with Earned Value Management, integrated master scheduling, estimate-at-complete development, or comparable program-control methods
- Experience supporting proposals, negotiations, contract modifications, capture efforts, and growth strategy execution
- Experience with enterprise resource planning, product-lifecycle management, manufacturing execution, scheduling, or program-performance systems
- Project Management Professional certification or equivalent formal program-management training
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) with company match
- Paid time off
- Health Savings Account (HSA) with company contribution
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
- Company-paid life and AD&D insurance
- Short- and long-term disability coverage
- Tuition reimbursement
Company Overview