Technical Program Manager

Location: Leander Texas
Employment Type: Full-Time Direct Hire
Work Arrangement: To be confirmed
Compensation: To be confirmed
Work Authorization: U.S. citizenship required

An early-stage defense technology organization is seeking a Technical Program Manager to serve as the primary connection between engineering execution and program or contract delivery.

This position combines technical program management with engineering oversight. The successful candidate will manage program schedules budgets risks deliverables and customer relationships while participating meaningfully in engineering design reviews and technical decision-making.

The role will support hardware programs from early development through testing and final delivery ensuring that technical execution remains aligned with schedule cost contractual and regulatory requirements.

• Manage schedules budgets risk registers milestones and deliverables across one or more defense hardware programs
• Apply earned value management or an appropriate equivalent to monitor program performance
• Serve as the primary customer contact for program status technical interchange meetings and deliverable reviews
• Manage subcontractors vendors supply-chain dependencies and external partners against program milestones
• Prepare and present internal and customer-facing program reviews
• Manage contract deliverables status reports and risk-mitigation plans
• Coordinate contract compliance for cost-plus-fixed-fee firm-fixed-price and Other Transaction Authority agreements
• Work closely with contracts and finance teams to maintain program compliance and financial control

• Partner with engineering leaders on system architecture design maturity technical planning and risk management
• Translate test failures design changes and supply-chain substitutions into schedule and cost impacts
• Support requirements management and traceability
• Drive verification and validation planning including test plans and acceptance criteria
• Participate as a technical stakeholder in preliminary design critical design and test-readiness reviews
• Evaluate engineering trade-offs and support technical schedule decisions
• Resolve conflicts between changing engineering scope and approved program baselines
• Help maintain alignment among engineering requirements contractual obligations schedules and budgets

• Support compliance with ITAR EAR CMMC and DFARS requirements as applicable
• Contribute technical and scheduling input to proposals and business-development efforts
• Maintain configuration-management and documentation practices throughout the program lifecycle
• Ensure program documentation and customer deliverables are accurate current and complete

• Minimum of five years of experience in defense program management systems engineering or a combined program management and engineering role
• Demonstrated experience managing physical hardware development programs
• Working knowledge of Department of Defense acquisition processes
• Familiarity with Contract Data Requirements Lists and common government contract types
• Experience managing program schedules budgets risks milestones and deliverables
• Ability to interpret and discuss engineering drawings test data specifications and technical requirements
• Experience working directly with engineering teams and participating in technical design reviews
• Strong customer communication presentation organization and problem-solving skills
• Ability to manage vendors subcontractors and supply-chain dependencies
• U.S. citizenship required

• Experience with counter-unmanned aircraft systems munitions kinetic effectors or related defense hardware
• PMP or equivalent program-management certification
• Familiarity with CMMC Level 2 requirements
• Familiarity with ITAR EAR and DFARS compliance
• Experience working in an FFL- or FEL-regulated environment
• Previous experience with a startup or small defense contractor
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment with evolving priorities

Qualified candidates with defense hardware program-management experience and strong technical credibility are encouraged to apply.