Engineering Prog Mgr III

Summary
Responsible for shaping customer expectations in the concept phase of an engineering project, as well as execution success from a technical and financial perspective. Is the primary interface with customers and internal management. Integrates and aligns the technical, operations, business, and contract teams for all Stratospheric Balloon and Radar products and related flight/field services.

Essential Functions
• Essential Functions as outlined in Program Manager I/II.
• Provide perspective to less‑experienced program managers regarding impact of technical decisions on product architecture.
• Escalate key product/feature trades to management for discussion and then influence customer direction based on feedback.
• Coordinate long‑term technical roadmap for a customer or stakeholder group.
• Responsible for all Program activity (cost, schedule, performance) for larger or more complex programs.
• Establish formalized roles and responsibilities matrix for services program execution.
• Promote development of best practices within the Program Management organization.
• Regularly review program performance in reference to basis of estimate to improve bidding practices and fidelity.
• Field initial customer engagements and identify relevant opportunities based on technical and business fit.
• Drive customer technical roadmap to align with Aerostar’s intention for building solutions and growing our market.
• Identify related customers with similar applications, or new applications with existing customers, and drive business growth.
• Communicate customer requested/desired product improvements and enhancements.
• Capture customer requirements for engineering designs and assist technical team in deriving design requirements.
• Create functional interconnect diagrams between key system components, especially regarding integration with external components.
• Assist technical staff in the creation and review of BOMs and detailed interconnect diagrams.
• Keep abreast of new developments in the fields of engineering design, methods, and applications.
• Lead creation of technical packages for external stakeholders and review internal artifacts for consistency with high‑level design intent.
• Drive data analyses to capture performance against key technical metrics.
• Work with architecture, development teams, and project management to control scope and enable product development.
• Participate in design reviews, representing the needs of the customer as well as engineering best practices.
• Participate with engineering as a key contributor in the development of technical and product roadmap, as well as product internal architecture.
• Serve as product evangelist and subject matter expert.
• Demonstrates Aerostar’s Guiding Principles.
• Produce and facilitate the on‑time delivery of all major reports to customer POCs.
• Provide analysis of schedule and production changes to ensure all stakeholders are aligned and coordinated and status is clearly communicated.
• Coordinate and ensure that the materials supply chain is adequate to meet delivery schedules. Work closely with operations to coordinate procurement of long‑lead time items.
• Responsible for adherence to contracts, meeting the requirements, and flowing down specific requirements to subcontractors/suppliers.
• Support Bid and Proposal activity.
• Provide technical subject matter support to business development team during initial customer engagements.
• Assist customers in developing technical solutions involving Aerostar and partner products.
• Shape customer technical approach to align to Aerostar’s capabilities and plans.
• Represent Aerostar at industry events and engage with customers and technology partners to identify and grow new business and new opportunities.
• Grow the company's base of business with existing customers by cultivating deep relationships.
• Keep internal teams informed of competitive information gained regarding pricing, products, or general issues in the market.

Education and Experience
• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or related field. Masters preferred.
• Experience with engineering project leadership or systems engineering required.
• Experience with engineering team management preferred.
• DOD or Gov’t experience preferred (prior military or civilian experience).
• 10+ years related experience required with 4+ years leading technical programs.
• Master of Business Administration (MBA) desired.
• Program Management Professional (PMP) qualification desired.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• Experience navigating the US Government acquisition life cycle phases (requirements, market research, RFP, source selection, pre‑award, post‑award and execution).