Technical Project Manager

This position is contingent upon contract award and is based in Houston, TX.

About the role

The Technical Project Manager (TPM) supports overarching project planning, scheduling, coordination, management, and execution for the U.S. Navy’s launch test facilities Research and Development (R&D) program, a top priority for national defense. The role involves cradle-to-grave engineering project management for U.S. Navy Submarine and Surface Ship weapons system capability testing.

Responsibilities

• Lead cradle-to-grave engineering project planning, management, and execution for U.S. Navy Submarine and Surface Ship weapons systems.
• Plan and execute quick-turn design-build-certify-integrate projects.
• Develop and maintain integrated project plans, including scope, schedule, budget, staffing, procurement, design maturity, test readiness, certification, delivery, and integration milestones.
• Coordinate project execution across mechanical design, drafting, electrical design, data acquisition, project engineering, systems engineering, test, safety/certification, and customer stakeholders.
• Drive early definition and closure of project fundamentals, such as team structure, funding path, interface ownership, technical authority path, certification approach, minimum viable test program, and delivery expectations.
• Establish and manage the project's critical path, focusing on design maturity, long-lead procurements, instrumentation/DAQ approach, fabrication lead times, and integration readiness.
• Lead regular project status reviews, risk reviews, action tracking, interface coordination, and decision forums.
• Manage technical, schedule, cost, and interface risks associated with changing design data, uncertain environments, and late-breaking certification or integration requirements.
• Ensure project documentation, design artifacts, certification products, interface agreements, risk posture, and delivery records are maintained at an appropriate level.
• Escalate issues early when technical uncertainty, resource gaps, funding delays, or external interface dependencies threaten project delivery and integration commitments.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Management, Project Management, or a closely related technical field.
• Minimum 12 years of experience in U.S. Navy weapon system engineering project management may substitute for degree requirements.
• Minimum 8 years leading technical projects involving hardware design, build, test, certification, and delivery.
• Experience managing rapid-turn or schedule-constrained aerospace, defense, flight hardware, test article, ground support equipment, or vehicle integration projects.
• Strong technical literacy across mechanical design, electrical/avionics interfaces, instrumentation, test planning, hardware certification, and integrated system delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams through ambiguous early project definition while maintaining execution momentum.
• Experience building and maintaining integrated schedules, risk registers, action trackers, staffing plans, and project status products for technical leadership and customer stakeholders.
• Ability to manage interface-heavy projects involving multiple organizations, evolving requirements, and external customer dependencies.
• Experience coordinating design reviews, test readiness reviews, certification readiness, hardware delivery, and integration planning.
• Ability to identify when a project requires systems engineering discipline, project engineering ownership, formal requirements closure, or additional technical authority engagement.
• Strong communication skills, including translating technical uncertainty into clear schedule, cost, risk, and decision impacts.
• Demonstrated ability to operate with urgency while preserving sound engineering judgment and disciplined configuration control.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Management, Project Management, or a closely related technical field.
• Minimum 12 years of experience in U.S. Navy weapon system project management, including Vertical Launching Systems (VLS), Trident Missile Systems, and SSGN weapons systems.
• Experience supporting flight hardware, flight-like test articles, mass simulators, structural test articles, payload integration, or instrumented hardware.
• Experience coordinating data acquisition, telemetry, and instrumentation.
• Experience working with various industry engineering organizations and/or federal customers.
• Experience managing projects with compressed execution windows, evolving requirements, and coordinated deliverables.
• Experience leading teams where design, procurement, test, certification, and integration activities overlap due to schedule constraints.

Security and Clearance

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.
• U.S. Citizenship is required to obtain a U.S. government security clearance.

Work Environment

This position is based in Houston, TX, with significant responsibilities at two primary test sites (China Lake, CA and Crane, IN). Travel is expected to be approximately 50% of working time, typically planned in advance. The role involves both office-based project management and hands-on field activities in varied environments, including industrial, laboratory, fabrication, test-site, and outdoor settings. The candidate must support hardware across the lifecycle, including installation, checkout, troubleshooting, test, sustainment, documentation updates, and configuration reconciliation.

Pay

$125,000.00–175,000.00 per year. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as job responsibilities, education, experience, skills, internal equity, market data, applicable collective bargaining agreements, and relevant laws.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Paid time off and holidays
• Retirement benefits (including 401(k) matching)
• Educational reimbursement
• Parental leave
• Employee stock purchase plan
• Tax-saving options
• Disability and life insurance
• Pet insurance

Benefits may vary based on employment type, location, and applicable agreements. Positions governed by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), or other employment contracts may include different provisions/benefits.