Program Manager/ALPL

About the Role

The Program Management Office provides a high level of customer service, challenging opportunities, and superior Honda and Acura products that support HRC and American Honda. This position creates, coordinates, and consolidates project activities across Technical and Production divisions. Key functions include establishing and monitoring project schedules and budgets, addressing delays, and providing status updates to inform strategic company decisions.

Responsibilities

• Leads cross-functional project planning and execution to meet development and production schedules, ensuring alignment across Engineering, Development, Design, Testing, Assembly, Procurement, and Manufacturing.
• Establishes effective communication processes, including project reviews, synchronization meetings, and task tracking systems, to provide clear visibility of project status, priorities, risks, and deliverables.
• Develops and maintains integrated project schedules by coordinating build timelines, test plans, drawing and BoM release dates, part procurement, shipping schedules, fixture modifications, and testing activities.
• Partners with Development teams to create realistic annual project plans aligned with key milestones and organizational objectives.
• Monitors project progress daily, proactively identifying obstacles, evaluating impacts to schedules, resources, and budgets, and implementing corrective actions to maintain project targets.
• Leads project meetings, communicates schedule changes, and develops contingency plans to mitigate risks and minimize disruptions.
• Drives continuous improvement initiatives that enhance development cycle efficiency, project execution, and operational effectiveness.
• Establishes and promotes project management standards, best practices, and innovative processes that support current and future programs.
• Develops and manages master annual race and test schedules, incorporating race events, track tests, build timing, resource allocation, mileage tracking, shipping logistics, and fiscal year planning assumptions.
• Ensures alignment between race operations, development activities, resource availability, and business objectives.
• Manages project budgets across Production and Technical divisions by monitoring expenditures, reviewing open purchase orders and rebuild costs, correcting cost allocations, forecasting financial performance, and identifying budget risks.
• Collaborates with project teams, department leaders, and senior management to develop budget strategies, improve resource utilization, control development costs, and ensure key project, financial, and business objectives are achieved.
• Establishes and prioritizes project objectives, adjusting plans and resources as needed to respond effectively to changing business and project requirements.
• Reviews and approves or rejects project-related purchase requisitions, purchase orders, and travel requests to ensure alignment with project budgets and objectives.
• Evaluates project performance against established goals through analysis of project metrics, summaries, and reports.
• Directs follow-up actions to address variances between expected and actual results, identify root causes, and implement corrective measures to ensure successful project outcomes.

Requirements

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in development, testing, assembly, manufacturing, and program management.
• Proven expertise in project planning, scheduling, resource management, critical path analysis, and budget administration.
• Demonstrated success leading complex engineering and product development programs from concept through design, procurement, assembly, testing, and production.
• Strong understanding of development lifecycles, program management methodologies, and continuous process improvement initiatives that enhance efficiency and reduce costs.
• Experience developing, managing, and forecasting project budgets while optimizing resource utilization and controlling expenses.
• Skilled at managing multiple priorities in fast-paced, dynamic environments while maintaining schedule, quality, and cost objectives.
• Effective communicator with the ability to align cross-functional teams, influence stakeholders, and gain support from senior leadership.
• Strong strategic planning, analytical, problem-solving, negotiation, and decision-making skills.
• Proficient with Microsoft Project and other project management tools.
• Knowledge of motorsports vehicle development and racing operations is preferred.
• Demonstrated leadership, accountability, teamwork, adaptability, and the ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Quick learner with the ability to adopt new technologies and drive innovative solutions.

Working Conditions

Physical Demands

• Bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist while working.
• Bending legs at knee to come to a rest on knee or knees to work on close to the groundwork.
• Crawling.
• Moving about on hands and knees or hands and feet to work underneath suspended vehicles/engines/equipment to diagnose problems and/or remove/replace parts.
• Standing for sustained periods during work or events.
• Sitting.
• Extensive travel and long travels.
• Walking, particularly long distances at the track to pit lane and around the shop.
• Lifting: raising objects of 25 pounds from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position.
• Repetitive motion: substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers while servicing/maintaining a race engine, vehicles, and equipment.
• Exposure to hazards, including proximity to moving mechanical parts, moving vehicles, electrical current, high heat, and chemicals.

Emotional Requirements

• Ability to make quick decisions.
• Hazard awareness and awareness of surroundings.
• Planning and problem-solving.
• Coping with change and other people.