Job Description

Embry-Riddle: A Global Leader in Aviation and Aerospace

With vibrant campuses in Daytona Beach, FL and Prescott, AZ, plus a Worldwide network across approximately 120 locations, Embry-Riddle stands as the world’s largest aviation and aerospace university. For over 95 years, we've been pioneering education in STEM fields, serving over 11,600 residential students and 19,200 globally in the 2023-24 academic year with cutting-edge programs in Applied Science, Aviation, Business, Technology, Engineering, Safety, Security, and Space.

The Opportunity

Embry-Riddle is contracted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to lead projects related to research, prototype development, and demonstrations at the Florida Test Bed (FTB). The FTB is an agile research and integration facility designed to allow government, industry, and academia to showcase their ideas and technologies in a National Airspace System (NAS) environment. The projects consist of a diverse group of people from FAA, industry and academia. The projects span exploration of the entire National Airspace System (NAS) to include Commercial Space Operations, Flight Standards validation, 4-Dimensional Trajectory Based Operations, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), leveraging cloud-based technologies, current NAS systems (weather, surface, enroute, oceanic) and technologies, as well as new NextGen domestic and international technologies. 

The Project Manager (PM) is a consummate professional, responsible for managing multiple, complex projects throughout the project lifecycle. Activities include planning and scheduling project deliverables; monitoring goals and milestones; defining resources including subcontractors; creating strategies for risk mitigation and contingency planning; efficiently identifying and solving project issues; and developing and maintaining good working relationships with customers, subcontractors, and other team members. The Project Manager organizes and leads critical stakeholder meetings throughout the project lifecycle as defined by the executed contract. Some of these meetings may require occasional travel to Washington, D.C. or other domestic locations.

The PM has experience in project management and supports the continued development of internal project management-related processes. Additionally, the PM is extremely well organized and exercises smart decision-making with integrity. The PM has very strong communication skills including those verbal and social skills needed to develop and maintain rapport and working relationships. The PM also has strong technical report writing and revising skills to design and maintain key documentation for the projects, to participate in the review process for conference papers, and to prepare professional briefings for FAA leadership. The PM delegates to, and mentors, University student assistants for each project. The PM has some familiarity with the aviation industry, experience with the software development lifecycle, and or manned and unmanned flight operations, and the ability to be creative, flexible and agile to lead projects that demonstrate evolving concepts.

90% -- Project Management

• Develops and maintains a rapport and working relationship with customers, subcontractors, and other team members
• Manages multiple complex projects throughout the project lifecycle; including proposal/planning, coordination and selection of industry team for new projects within the OTA contract, execution of projects, leading project demonstrations and project closeout activities
• Builds a strong and resilient team for each project
• Develops and maintains project budgets and detailed project schedules
• Defines expectations and manages subcontractors throughout the lifecycle of the project
• Develops project scope and objective, involving all relevant stakeholders and ensuring technical feasibility
• Writes a detailed Project Management Plan for each project
• Maintains the programmatic baseline by managing weekly meetings and documenting actions and decisions
• Identifies, tracks, and when appropriate, mitigates risks throughout projects’ lifecycles
• Coordinates and documents all project events and meetings, and maintains an up-to-date calendar
• Prepares and edits reports, papers and presentations and coordinates the submission of deliverables to the FAA
• Leads Project Management Reviews (PMRs) as scheduled or requested by the customer to provide the customer, program leaders and key stakeholders a comprehensive understanding of the project’s overall status
• Builds professional relationships and maintains regular contact with key FAA Project Managers and stakeholders
• Communicates extensively with the FAA, sub-contractors, and other project team members to ensure project timelines, milestones