Program Specialist

Overview

Brandes Associates, Inc. (BAI), a defense contractor, is seeking a Specialist with 7+ years of experience for our expanding workforce supporting current and evolving technical engineering contract requirements at NAS Point Mugu, CA. Opportunities for career advancement, excellent benefits, and long-term stability are some of the advantages of our growing, employee-focused company.

Salary

The typical annual salary range for this position is $120,000.00 USD to $150,000.00 USD. Salary will be based on current qualifications, directly related experience, geographic location, and possible contractual requirements which could fall outside of this range.

Responsibilities

• Provide program financial management, program scheduling, technical support, technical writing, technical program support, training package development and/or instruction, information systems, cybersecurity, safety, logistics, and maintenance support relevant to research, development, integration, engineering, validation and verification, testing, fielding, maintenance, and the conduct of military operations, experiments, or exercises
• Manage and track large technical portfolios (e.g., Modernization, Installation, Baseline, and Fleet Readiness), ensuring accurate funding execution, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) updates, and Technical Performance Specifications (TPS) oversight; synchronize allocations, resolve complex financial discrepancies, and stabilize reporting across these portfolios
• Develop, maintain, and validate financial trackers, spend plans, ERP data, budgets, expiring funds, and carry-in/out balances
• Develop mission planning and cost analysis models incorporating mission days, vessel requirements, staffing, and lifecycle cost factors to support operational forecasting and decision-making
• Own end-to-end development of quarterly reporting packages, driving data quality, cross-team coordination, and executive-ready outputs.
• Manage action item tracking and information flow across the Project Office, ensuring proper storage, traceability, and timely execution of all tasking
• Develop and refine leadership level presentations, working sheets, and financial summaries for program reviews and executive briefings; perform rigorous quality assurance on this documentation providing real-time corrections, financial validation, and content refinement to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills—verbal, non-verbal, written, and listening—for staff, customer, and organizational level communications, both formal and informal
• Ability to work independently, self-starter
• Working knowledge and use of Microsoft Office suite programs, MS Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and SharePoint

Qualifications

• A minimum of 7 years specialized experience relevant to the research, development, integration, engineering, validation and verification, test, fielding, or maintenance activities of a complex ground vehicle or watercraft system

Desired Experience

• Experience with program financial management or budget execution, technical/program documentation and briefing development, and portfolio or WBS-level tracking on a DoD program
• Familiarity with an ERP system (Navy ERP, or similar) and with EVM/WBS tools is directly tied to the financial trackers... ERP data and WBS updates language.
• Experience with scheduling tools (MS Project or similar) supports the program-scheduling duty
• Strong technical writing ability, comfort briefing senior leadership, and demonstrated attention to detail

EDUCATION

Degree: Accredited high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) equivalent.

Allowable Substitution: Associates degree from an accredited college or university may be substituted for two years of general experience. A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university may be substituted for four years of general experience.

CLEARANCE – Secret

Condition of Employment:  Applicant must have an active DoD Secret Clearance. The applicants selected will be subject to a security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

CITIZENSHIP

The applicant must have US citizenship at the time of application.

BAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other non-merit based factors made unlawful by federal, state or local laws.