Principal Program Manager (Strategic Integration)

About the role

Karman Space & Defense is a leader in the rapid design, development, and production of critical, next-generation system solutions that align with the U.S. Department of War and its allies’ core mission priorities, and meet the accelerating demand for access to space. Building on nearly 50 years of success, we deliver Payload & Protection Systems, Aero/Hydrodynamic Interstage Systems, and Propulsion & Launch Systems to more than 80 prime contractors supporting over 130 space and defense programs.

This role is part of our Space and Launch business, which has contributed to the nation’s space programs for decades by delivering complete solutions from concept to flight. We enable successful space operations with mission-critical technology supporting every step from first launch to final landing, including launch vehicle subsystems, propulsion systems, aerodynamic and interstage systems, and payload protection and deployment. Our high-performance solutions are engineered to operate in the most extreme environments and meet precise mission requirements. In this role, you serve as the senior integration leader for enterprise-level programs and strategic initiatives that span multiple sites, functions, and product lines. You translate executive priorities into executable plans, create accountability across diverse teams, remove cross-functional barriers, and drive disciplined performance across cost, schedule, technical, quality, and contractual objectives. You operate with broad autonomy, navigating ambiguity, aligning senior leaders, and ensuring execution maturity across the Space and Launch organization.

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