Director of Program Management

Position Summary

The Director of Program Management leads the Program Management organization at Hollister, guiding a team of program managers who serve as the primary interface between our customers and our operations. This role owns the performance of every active program at the site, from proposal through delivery, and is accountable for program contract execution that includes on-time delivery, within budget, and meeting technical requirements

As a people leader, the Director spends significant time directing, coaching, and developing program managers, building a bench of talent capable of taking on greater scope over time. The Director sets the standard for how programs are managed at Hollister, then works closely with program management leaders at our other sites to align tools, processes, and best practices so that the customer experience has the same level of discipline and responsiveness no matter which site is executing their program. This includes leveraging the Ralliant Business System (RBS) principles to simplify processes, remove waste, and enable faster, more predictable delivery to our customers. The Director is a visible, hands-on leader who is equally comfortable coaching a program manager through a difficult customer conversation and representing Hollister in enterprise level planning and business development discussions.

Responsibilities

• Direct the Hollister Program Management team, ensuring every program is tracked against schedule, budget, and technical requirements, and that issues are escalated and resolved early.
• Own site level program financial performance, including site bookings forecast, revenue, cost, and margin tracking across the active program portfolio, and partner with finance on gross margin forecasting and variance analysis.
• Personally direct, coach, and mentor program managers, holding regular one on one development conversations, setting individual growth plans, and building succession depth on the team.
• Lead the team through the design and rollout of standard work for program management processes, applying RBS methodology to reduce variation and enable faster customer delivery.
• Collaborate with program management leaders across all sites to share best practices, standardize reporting and tools, and ensure consistent customer experience regardless of site.
• Participate in and manage proposal preparation and negotiation with customers, including scope, pricing, schedule, and risk discussions.
• Lead large scale proposal and program kickoff meetings to align on schedules, funding limitations, staffing requirements, and resource allocation.
• Identify and manage program risk, develop mitigation plans and advise leadership and customers of status and any changes to commitments.
• Serve as an escalation point for customers, assessing VOC (voice of the customer) feedback, providing confident, transparent updates on program status and demonstrating that issues are understood and actively being resolved.
• Participate in strategic planning, annual operating plan development, and new business development opportunities for the site, including forecasting opportunities and identifying program candidates for internal research and development investment.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships across engineering, quality, operations, and supply chain to keep programs moving and remove cross functional roadblocks.
• Own hiring, performance management, and career development decisions for the program management team.
• Travel as customer, program, and company requirements dictate.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Education, Experience and Skills Required

• Bachelor's degree in Business or equivalent experience required. MBA preferred.
• A minimum of 10 years of experience managing program teams in a technical and manufacturing environment within the aerospace or defense industry, including experience leading and developing other people leaders.
• Demonstrated success building, coaching, and retaining high performing teams, with a genuine investment in the growth of others.
• Comprehensive knowledge of aerospace ordnance, pyrotechnic, and electronic components and systems, along with related markets and customers.
• Strong business acumen, including gross profit and program level financial accountability, DOD pricing, and contract negotiation experience.
• Significant experience in DoD sole source contract negotiations with awards greater than $100M
• Working knowledge of RBS or a comparable continuous improvement system such as TPS, DBS, or FBS, and the ability to lead a team through standard work development and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with customers, executives, and cross functional teams. Computer literate.
• Project Management Professional certification or equivalent preferred.
• Experience leading program management in a multi-site, matrixed organization preferred.
• Global business perspective and experience.
• Excellent matrix and team building skills and experience.

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