Program Manager

Background check, US Citizenship, and drug screening are requirements of this positon. Contingent on client approval. On-Site position.

The Program Manager serves as the single point of accountability for cost, schedule, technical, and contractual execution of Navy/DoD programs at the Federal Equipment Cincinnati facility. This is a hands-on, onsite execution role requiring daily presence, direct engagement with manufacturing, engineering, quality, and suppliers, and continuous coordination with Fairbanks Morse Defense leadership, DCMA, and Navy stakeholders.

This role exists to remove execution risk early, protect margin, and ensure programs remain predictable, inspection-ready, and aligned with contract commitments.

Requirements:

Core Responsibilities

• Own program cost, schedule, technical, and contractual performance from award through delivery
• Establish and maintain baseline schedules, tracking planned vs. actual labor and progress weekly
• Maintain awareness of overall program financial health, including labor, material, rework, and change impacts
• Lead weekly execution reviews, focusing on risks, recovery actions, and near-term priorities
• Control scope, ECPs, deviations, waivers, and engineering changes, ensuring no unauthorized work proceeds
• Coordinate engineering release flow to manufacturing to prevent idle labor or rework
• Actively manage supplier performance and long-lead material, including expediting and mitigation planning
• Serve as primary interface for DCMA, Navy, and customer inspections, ensuring inspection readiness
• Maintain configuration control, documentation discipline, and contract compliance
• Identify, assess, and mitigate risks using an active program risk register
• Develop and execute schedule recovery plans when deviations occur
• Prevent quality escapes through close coordination with Quality and Manufacturing
• Provide clear, concise, fact-based reporting to FMD leadership
• Act as FMD's onsite execution representative, aligning Federal Equipment operations with FMD objectives

Measures of Success

• Programs delivered with no late surprises
• Labor and material burn aligned with plan
• Inspections and audits executed smoothly
• Changes captured, approved, and executed with discipline
• Leadership confidence in forecasts and reporting

Required Background

• 10–20+ years in defense manufacturing, shipbuilding, aerospace, or heavy industrial environments
• Prior experience executing Navy / DoD programs
• Strong understanding of manufacturing operations and quality systems
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams
• Comfortable working daily on the shop floor
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional teams under schedule pressure

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with DCMA and customer oversight
• Familiarity with MIL-STD environments
• Manufacturing or project engineering background
• PMP or equivalent helpful but not required