Sr. Director; Program Management, National Space Security (NSS) Programs

About the role

Lanteris Space is seeking a Senior Director of Program Management to join the Commercial and National Security Program Management Office (PMO) team for an on-site leadership role in Palo Alto, CA.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Business Development team supporting new business acquisition activities with a focus on USG National Space Security (NSS) pursuits, including leading the team to define clear technical baselines for factory assessment and program costing.
• Plan, direct and control program activities with core team of matrixed personnel to ensure program objectives and Customer requirements are achieved within budget from pre-award program acquisition to post-award program completion.
• Manage program technical baseline and Contractual requirements ensuring contractual obligations are satisfied.
• Conduct reviews, audits, trade studies, fact-findings, and establish corrective action plans and priorities to meet program objectives.
• Broker/manage programmatic changes with Customer & internal teams.
• Bring order to ambiguous situations providing clear direction to team for issue resolution maintaining continuous progress to closure.
• Assume ownership & accountability providing leadership to ensure stable technical, schedule, & financial baseline & execution.
• Create & manage program risk management plan that is executable by factory. Risk management plan includes technical, cost, and schedule risks with mitigation plans & assigned leaders to execute plans.
• Partner with program Business Manager to manage financial reserves managing balance between risks and opportunities.
• Provide timely and thorough program information as appropriate to executive management.
• Exhibit professionalism and leadership as the primary focal point to the customer representatives.
• Ensure integrity, responsiveness, and ethical business practices exist in all dealings with the Customer.
• Establish and maintain PMO standards, processes, and best practices across NSS program portfolio ensuring consistency and operational excellence.
• Allocate resources across multiple concurrent programs to optimize organizational performance and strategic priorities.
• Oversee portfolio-level financial performance including revenue recognition, margin management, and reserve allocation across programs.
• Lead organizational capability development initiatives to enhance PMO effectiveness, efficiency, and competitive positioning.
• Cultivate and maintain executive-level relationships with government sponsors, USG leadership, and other USG space stakeholders to position company as preferred partner.
• Provide executive oversight of major proposal efforts, leading integrated product teams through gate reviews and ensuring competitive, executable technical and management solutions.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. citizen with active or ability to obtain TS/SCI clearance.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field. Master’s degree may count as two years of experience.
• Minimum 15 years of progressively responsible aerospace industry experience.
• Minimum 5 years with NSS program proposal development (i.e., color reviews) and NSS program execution.
• Proven track record leading multi-program portfolios valued at $50M+ with P&L accountability.
• Demonstrated experience managing other managers/directors with teams of 30+ personnel.
• Management experience with government contracting (FAR/NFS), contract types (cost-plus, FFP, IDIQ), and contract change processes.
• Executive-level communication and presentation skills with ability to influence senior government and company leadership.
• Strategic thinking capability with demonstrated ability to develop and execute long-term organizational strategies.
• Change management experience leading organizational transformations, process improvements, or cultural initiatives.
• Able and willing to be present in the local program office facilities in Palo Alto, CA, on a daily basis.
• Ability to travel in support of customer, supplier, or business development meetings (approximately 10-15% travel).

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher in Physics, Engineering, Business Administration, or equivalent.
• Knowledge of commercial space architectures, missions, systems, requirements, and acquisition methods required and be able to strategize unique solutions.
• Comfort with ambiguity & demonstrated experience successfully leading a matrixed team of engineers solving challenging problems involving complex systems.
• Demonstrated experience successfully leading and delivering software development projects.
• Experience scoping, winning, and profitably leading USG or commercial programs.
• Complex risk management experience with demonstrate results.

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, health and welfare insurance, and 401(k) to eligible employees.