Director, Program Management

About the role

This position will lead and develop a team of Program Managers, owning talent strategy, overseeing a diverse portfolio of defense programs, coordinating efforts, leading budget planning, managing risks, analyzing program statuses, reporting performance, and supporting customer engagements.

Responsibilities

• Directs and develops a team of Program Managers, setting clear performance expectations and aligning with portfolio objectives and organizational priorities.
• Owns talent strategy for the program management function, including hiring, succession planning, performance management, and capability development.
• Oversees a diverse portfolio of defense programs, ensuring strategic alignment with evolving business needs, market demands, and government priorities.
• Ensures coordination and consistency across all program efforts and deliverables, aligning execution with organizational capacity and enterprise-level initiatives.
• Led Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and budget planning across the portfolio; owns budget oversight and drives adjustments to meet dynamic program and business objectives.
• Analyzes portfolio-level budget trends and implements team-wide initiatives to ensure programs remain within financial targets and aligned with long-term business strategy.
• Leads risk and opportunity management across the portfolio, supporting mitigation strategies and identifying cross-program efficiencies to improve responsiveness and execution.
• Interprets and analyzes reported program statuses to drive informed business decisions across the program management team and cross-functional areas.
• Reports comprehensive program portfolio performance and strategic insights to Senior Leadership, supporting enterprise-wide decision-making.
• Supports critical customer engagements, acting as a senior escalation point across the program portfolio to ensure continuity and customer satisfaction.
• Maintains strong situational awareness of customer needs and future market direction, influencing business strategy and long-term positioning.
• Provides guidance and support to Program Managers on capturing new and follow-on business opportunities; monitors and drives progress against orders targets across the team.
• Analyzes and forecasts financial metrics across the full program portfolio; partners with Program Managers to realign execution strategies to meet broad financial and business goals.
• Represents the Program Management function in senior financial and operational discussions, ensuring program metrics support enterprise performance targets.
• Leads collaboration across internal cross-functional teams to ensure contractual deliverables are met; proactively removes barriers and enables team performance.
• Provides leadership, mentorship, and development guidance to the Program Management team, setting clear goals to grow both team-wide capabilities and individual performance.
• Fosters a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and strategic thinking across the program management organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical field required; master’s degree preferred.
• A combination of education and relevant experience (including military service) will also be considered.
• Minimum of 9 years of professional experience required with a bachelor’s degree.
• Prior experience with government contract programs or projects strongly preferred.
• Active or previously held Secret Clearance strongly preferred.
• Experience with Microsoft Project or Salesforce is a plus but not required.
• PMP (Project Management Professional) certification is a plus.

Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically up to 20% of the time.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong industry knowledge and an understanding of market dynamics.
• Ability to adapt to evolving market conditions and emerging technological trends.
• Strong logical reasoning and sound decision-making skills.
• Ability to consider diverse perspectives and communicate effectively in both written and oral formats.
• Demonstrate poise and professionalism in all situations.
• Strong ability to build trust and engage effectively with others.
• Excellent writing skills, including the ability to produce high-quality, large-scale documents under tight deadlines.
• Must be able to remain in a stationary position for approximately 50% of the time.
• Must be able to occasionally move within the office to access files, equipment, and other resources.

Benefits

Free of Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI).

Pay

Negotiable based on experience and qualifications.

Schedule

Full-time, with occasional travel.

About Safran Federal Systems

Safran Federal Systems has been awarded as a Winner of the USA Today and Rochester Metro Area Top Workplaces 2026 Award. In 2022, Safran acquired Orolia, now Safran Trusted 4D, the world leader in Resilient PNT. At the intersection of critical infrastructure and national defense, Safran Trusted 4D solutions govern and protect the integrity of systems that shape the world. In early 2019, Orolia Defense & Security spun off as a separate entity from its parent company Orolia, with the mission of providing resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) solutions and custom engineering services to U.S. Government agencies, U.S. Defense organizations, and their contractors. In August of 2019, Safran Federal Systems acquired Talen-X, a U.S. company specializing in advanced GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Simulation solutions and Interference, Detection, and Mitigation (IDM) technologies. Talen-X's portfolio was an ideal fit and has helped to enhance Safran FS's overall offerings. The acquisition enabled Talen-X's existing resources, operations and capabilities to be scaled and accelerated to better support the warfighter. Read the press release here.

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.