Director of Programs - Mission Systems Products

The ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance), Aviation, and Security (IAS) business area is a leader in ISR and aviation, it is a leading prime manned and unmanned aircraft systems integrator for innovative, high-performance ISR and aviation systems. Its end-to-end Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities encompass design, integration, test, certification, ground/flight training and complete logistics support. IAS tailors solutions to customer cost, performance, and schedule requirements and designs to consistently exceed expectations – with an unrivaled record of on time and on (or under) budget deliveries.Are you looking to advance your career and flex your leadership and program management skills in a fast-paced and rewarding organization? Join us! The Director Programs will lead strategic business operations for key programmatic aspects at SNC. This role requires a visionary leader responsible for overseeing customer relationships, cost management, schedule adherence, technical planning, and execution. The Director Programs will ensure program performance objectives are achieved through meticulous tracking and reporting, risk assessment, and resolution of issues. This position involves close coordination with corporate entities, fostering innovation, and deploying complex solutions in a mission-critical environment. The incumbent will be responsible for providing program status updates, reviewing proposals, and negotiating with stakeholders to ensure that projects meet financial and timeline constraints.

***If BA IPM Role, use this language***

As Director Integrated Program Management you'll be responsible to share your program management experience, skills, and best practices and to provide business area leadership for program management process, tools, and training in partnership with Corporate program process oversight and compliance teams. This role is the accountable representative of the business area to drive program strategic plans and direction, leading change efforts, and focusing and motivating Program Managers to achieve established goals. This role will provide support, training, guidance, structure, and leadership to the business area Program Management community with the objective to influence and improve Program Planning & Execution.

***If Corp IPM Role, use this language***

As Director Integrated Program Management you will provide strategic leadership and oversight for the development and implementation of the Integrated Program Management process, specifically related to the program management, cost, and schedule disciplines. You will direct the alignment of the Integrated Program Management process with industry best practices, program standards, corporate governance, and associated contract requirements. You'll develop and improve practice standards, conduct independent program assessments, oversee peer reviews to ensure proper application of integrated program management guidelines, and develop and lead an exceptional team of Integrated Program Managers and Program Finance members.

***If Director Program Planning, use this language***

The Director of Program Planning provides executive leadership and strategic oversight for the entire scheduling function within the organization. This role involves setting the vision for scheduling practices, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, and managing high-stakes programs. The Director of Program Planning drives innovation in scheduling methodologies, oversees risk management strategies, and collaborates with senior leadership to optimize project outcomes. This role also involves mentoring senior managers and fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement across the scheduling teams.

Responsibilities:

• Lead strategic planning, execution, and management of aerospace and defense programs to ensure achievement of customer satisfaction, cost, and schedule objectives.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key customers and stakeholders, acting as the main point of contact for program-related inquiries.
• Oversee and guide the development of technical planning, tracking, and reporting mechanisms to ensure successful program delivery.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate program risks while ensuring issues are tracked and resolved efficiently.
• Provide leadership, guidance, and oversight in all phases of resource planning and allocation, in coordination with other corporate entities.
• Lead and mentor a high-performing team to foster innovation, develop new solutions, and enhance overall program performance.
• Monitor and control program budgets, expenditures, and resource allocation to optimize financial performance.
• Ensure compliance with industry regulations and company policies.
• Present regular status updates, reports, and proposals to senior management and stakeholders.
• Negotiate contracts, agreements, and terms with suppliers, subcontractors, and customers to ensure favorable outcomes for the organization.

***If Director Program Planning & Scheduling, use this language***

• Provide executive leadership and strategic direction in the preparation, development, and coordination of integrated master plans and schedules for highly complex and strategic programs.
• Oversee the effective tracking and maintenance of project plans and schedules across the enterprise, ensuring comprehensive horizontal and vertical integration and alignment with strategic goals.
• Lead enterprise-level risk analysis efforts to identify, assess, and mitigate significant schedule risks, ensuring robust project execution and adherence to timelines.
• Resolve critical path and network logic conflicts using sophisticated project management techniques, ensuring seamless project progression and alignment with organizational objectives.
• Evaluate schedule compliance at an enterprise level, identifying and addressing underlying reasons for major completion shortfalls through strategic interventions and corrective actions.
• Prepare and present highly detailed and insightful reports and presentations on schedule status to executive stakeholders, providing strategic insights, actionable recommendations, and influencing organizational decisions.
• Foster and enhance collaboration with cross-functional teams to ensure accurate, timely, and comprehensive scheduling data, promoting effective communication and coordination across the organization.
• Champion the development and implementation of advanced scheduling best practices, supporting program management and driving continuous improvement initiatives across the organization.
• Mentor and guide senior scheduling managers and teams on advanced scheduling techniques and best practices, fostering a culture of learning, professional development, and excellence within the organization.
• Actively participate in executive-level strategic planning and decision-making processes, leveraging scheduling expertise to influence and shape organizational strategy and priorities, and ensuring alignment with overall business objectives.
• Provide executive leadership in coordinating, generating, and integrating Schedule Risk Assessments (SRA) across the organization.
• Oversee the analysis of schedule data to inform strategic decision-making.
• Ensure the development and presentation of executive-level reports and insights to leadership and customers, aligning with organizational goals and objectives.

Qualifications You Must Have:

***** TA - use if Director Programs business title *****

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business Management, Finance or a related field
• Relevant experience may substitute for required education

• Typically 10-12+ years of relevant experience; 7+ years demonstrated program management experience

• Thorough knowledge and understanding of program management, science, aerospace and/or engineering programs
• Prior experience leading a team of Program Managers and the programs they are managing; ability to recruit employees; assign, direct, and evaluate their work; and oversee career development, succession planning, performance management, coaching, mentoring, as well as holding people accountable
• Experience directing the preparation of proposals, business plans, specifications, and approves basis of estimates and rough order of magnitudes for potential pursuits and ensuring all resources such as engineering, manpower, production and facilities are available to support the program
• Demonstrated working knowledge of managing the cost, schedule and technical performance requirements of multiple programs through all phases from inception to completion
• Proven track-record developing, communicating and executing to meet financial forecasts
• Extensive experience with the development of tactical and strategic business growth strategy
• Responsible for high-level relationship management internally (executive leadership, peers, support functions, and subordinates) and external customers; Interact internally with leaders and customers on business matters and partners with functional leadership towards success and continuous improvement
• Responsible for customer satisfaction, maintaining customer communication, and the overall management of the customer relationship to determine needs, requirements and new business opportunities
• Ability to manage complex situations, delegate authority, lead and inspire your team, drive innovative thinking, instill collaboration, drive for success, challenge status quo and demonstrate ability to adapt to dynamic situations
• Proven experience and skills in team building, time management, conflict resolution, communication, briefing, presentation, strategic thinking, marketing, and literacy in the program management disciplines
• Familiarity with managing projects requiring Earned Value Management
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to clearly express technical concepts in verbal and written forms;  ability to tailor conversations to adapt to technical vs. non-technical audiences
• Proven ability to solve highly complex problems with significant business impact
• Shows strong decision-making skills by clearly stating the BLUF (bottom line up front), highlighting what matters most, simplifying complex information, & making timely, well-reasoned decisions that drive the biggest impact (80/20).

***If BA IPM Role, use this language***

• Typically 10-12+ years of relevant experience; 7+ years demonstrated program management experience
• Accountable BA liaison for coordinating Integrated Program Management People, Process, and Tool innovations and improvement efforts on behalf of the BA and in partnership with the Corporate Integrated Program Management Team
• Partners with the Corporate teams to identify priorities in support of producing timely, value added results.
• Represents the BA’s interests by providing input to corporate process improvements and initiatives.
• Attend Corporate sponsored Project Meetings for Pricing and Estimating, PMPs, Baselining and Execution, Tools, Training, and Estimating and EVMS DFAR Compliance. 
• Assigns BA SME delegates or Continuous Improvement teams, as necessary, to support working level meetings and objectives, per the discretion and guidance of the respective BA
• Establishes and maintains an effective engagement and communication cadence within their BA to ensure ideas and decisions are vetted and align with Sr. Leadership’s strategy and goals
• Supports Organization Change Management and Training coordination relative to the execution of the agreed upon priorities and goals
• Addresses any issues identified in Program KPI’s and Program Performance Metrics; works with teams at the Program, BU, and/or BA level to support improved program performance, as required
• Participate in Quarterly Corporate meetings to present plans and results
• Leverages best practices, trends, and innovations in the industry, outside of SNC, that can inform decisions & support project demands and informs and trains the BA’s PM community in these areas
• Shows strong decision-making skills by clearly stating the BLUF (bottom line up front), highlighting what matters most, simplifying complex information, & making timely, will-reasoned decisions that drive the biggest impact (80/20).

***If Corp IPM Role, use this language***

• Bachelor's Degree in a related field of Study
• Typically 10-12+ years of relevant experience; 7+ years demonstrated program management experience
• Thorough knowledge and understanding of one or more of the following disciplines: management consulting, data analytics, finance, Earned Value management, program management, or other quantitative or analytical role in business, program or operations management
• Demonstrated working knowledge and experience in Program Controls fundamentals inclusive of program risk management and business resource planning and tracking
• Strong business analytical skills with experience in scheduling software, Earned Value Management software, and self-service analytics
• Proven leadership abilities inclusive of successful change management, mentoring, career development, training, succession planning, holding people accountable, and conducting yearly reviews
• Mastery of the ability to manage complex situations, delegate authority, lead and inspire your team, drive innovative thinking, instill collaboration, drive for success, challenge status quo and demonstrate ability to adapt to dynamic situations
• Proven experience and skills in team building, time management, conflict resolution, communication, briefing, presentation, strategic thinking, and literacy in the program management disciplines
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to clearly express concepts in verbal and written forms;  ability to tailor conversations to adapt to varying audiences
• Shows strong decision-making skills by clearly stating the BLUF (bottom line up front), highlighting what matters most, simplifying complex information, & making timely, will-reasoned decisions that drive the biggest impact (80/20).

***If Director Program Planning & Scheduling, use this language***

• Bachelor’s degree targeting Project Management, Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field 

• Typically 10-12 years of relevant experience;7+ years demonstrated program or business management experience

• Proven senior leadership abilities inclusive of successful change management, mentoring, career development, training, and succession planning.
• Strong capability in holding people accountable and conducting yearly performance reviews.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Project Professional or similar scheduling tools.
• Extensive familiarity with Earned Value Management (EVM) tools.
• Significant experience in developing and maintaining resource-loaded integrated master schedules.
• Expertise in detailed schedule analysis, health assessments, schedule risk assessments, and critical/driving path analysis.
• Ability to provide strategic direction and drive continuous improvement in scheduling processes.
• Proven experience in resolving high-level conflicts and providing mentorship to senior managers and scheduling teams.
• Shows strong decision-making skills by clearly stating the BLUF (bottom line up front), highlighting what matters most, simplifying complex information, & making timely, will-reasoned decisions that drive the biggest impact (80/20).

Qualifications We Prefer:

• Previous ownership of P&L responsibilities
• Previous management experience that includes understanding in Financial Management, Business Operations, Strategic Planning, Contracts, Risk Management, and Proposal Development
• Ability to motivate others with a shared sense of vision or purpose.
• Ability to quickly grasp technical concepts and understand complex technical and program interdependencies
• Possess a strategic mindset, linking technology and business
• Understanding of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)/Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARS) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliance
• Working knowledge of Program Management Institute Program Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and/or Program Management Professional (PMP) Certification
• Prior experience managing projects using Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), agile and or spiral development models
• Ability to lead Program Management process and tool improvement for the Business Unit
• Ability to establish centralized, coordinating body for program concerns, recommendations, and issues; developing recommended process improvements; facilitating opportunities with corporate
• Ability to establish new and further refining existing templates, tools, and guidelines for program documentation and execution
• Experience with ensuring compliance with ISO 9001:2000 Policies and Processes

*** For BA/Corp IPM Roles, use this language***

• Certification in PMP, EVP,  and/or PMI-SP
• Experience with Microsoft Project, Deltek Cobra and/or Power Bi
• Prior experience in successful completion of Program IBRs, JSRs and Internal Surveillances
• Advanced skills in assessing external competition by gathering data from multiple, often disparate, qualitative and quantitative sources and synthesizing it into meaningful reports and presentations
• Previous management experience; ability to recruit employees; assign, direct, and evaluate their work; and oversee the development and maintenance of staff competence
• Demonstrated passion for ideation and innovation, as well as motivating others to act by creating a shared sense of vision or purpose.
• Ability to quickly grasp technical concepts and understand complex technical and program interdependencies
• Possess a strategic mindset, linking technology and business
• Understanding of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)/Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARS) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliance
• Background in the Aerospace and Defense Industry,  the US Department of Defense (Civilian), NASA/Civil or commercial space  and/or US Military, with an understanding of defense, aerospace, intelligence, and adjacent markets

***If Director Program Planning & Scheduling, use this language***

• Extensive and senior-level experience with project management tools such as Microsoft Project or similar schedule toolset.
• Expert-level knowledge of Earned Value Management (EVM) principles and systems.
• Certification in Project Management (PMP) or similar advanced credentials.
• Deep and comprehensive understanding of DCMA 14-point & IPMDAR DI_MGMT-81861.
• Thorough understanding of Mil Standard 881.
• Extensive experience with Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS).
• Mastery in the application of Critical Path Analysis and Schedule Risk Analysis.
• Expert proficiency in Schedule Performance and Health Metric Analysis.
• Extensive knowledge of engineering design and life cycle concepts.
• Proven ability to assemble and build highly complex Integrated Master Schedules (IMS).
• Advanced understanding of Event versus Product based schedules.
• Expert proficiency in Integrated Master Plan (IMP) and Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) development.
• Deep understanding of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) development.
• Extensive experience in the development and maintenance of resource-loaded integrated master schedules, including detailed schedule analysis, rolling wave planning, health assessments, schedule risk assessments, and critical/driving path analysis.
• Expertise in the facilitation of resource leveling, validation of remaining work, identification and resolution of critical path conflicts, and analysis of impacts to schedule of any proposed changes.
• Extensive experience in coaching, mentoring, and teaching senior team members.
• Ability to work across multiple software systems and comprehend complex system relationships.
• Ability to develop and conduct advanced stakeholder learning sessions.
• Comprehensive foundational understanding of Program Management processes.
• Deep knowledge of DoD, government contracting, and/or public auditing policies, standards, and procedures.
• Proven ability to support and lead the development and delivery of key employee training, including new employee onboarding, continuous education curriculum, and certification testing.

Essential Functions:

• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time, including international travel.
• Work predominantly in an office environment, with flexibility for hybrid work arrangements as needed.
• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Ability to lift up to 20 lbs occasionally for handling program materials or equipment.
• Strong hand/finger dexterity for computer work.
• Occasional exposure to manufacturing environments, requiring adherence to safety protocols.
• Effective communication and presentation skills for regular interactions with team members, customers, and senior management.

***If Director Program Planning & Scheduling, use this language***

• Ability to work in an office or hybrid environment.
• Ability to work on a computer for extended periods.
• Strong hand/finger dexterity for computer tasks.
• May require occasional travel for training or meetings.

This posting will be open for application for a minimum of 5 days and may be extended based on business needs.

SNC offers annual incentive pay based upon performance that is commensurate with the level of the position.

SNC offers a generous benefit package, including medical, dental, and vision plans, 401(k) with 150% match up to 6%, life insurance, 3 weeks paid time off, tuition reimbursement, and more.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

This position requires current/active Top Secret U.S. Security Clearance. U.S. Citizenship status is required as this position needs an active U.S. Security Clearance for employment. Non-U.S. Citizens may not be eligible to obtain a security clearance. The Department of Defense Consolidated Adjudications Facility (DoD CAF), a federal government agency, handles the adjudicative aspects of the security clearance eligibility process for industry applicants. Adjudicative factors which affect the outcome of the eligibility determination include, but are not limited to, allegiance to the U.S., foreign influence, foreign preference, criminal conduct, security violations, and illegal drug use.

Learn more about the background check process for Security Clearances.

SNC is a global leader in aerospace and national security committed to moving the American Dream forward. We’re known and respected for our mission and execution focus, agility, and disruptive and rapid innovation. We provide leading edge technologies and transformative solutions that support our nation’s most critical security needs. If you are mission-focused, thrive in collaborative environments, and want to make our country stronger with state-of-the-art technologies that safeguard freedom, join our team!

SNC is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to an environment free of discrimination. Employment decisions are made based on merit without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran or other characteristics protected by law.