Project Manager

Job Title: Sustainment & Support Project Manager Job Description
The Sustainment & Support Project Manager leads post-delivery sustainment programs for fielded naval assets within a rapidly growing Navy sustainment and lifecycle support organization. This role focuses on ongoing operational support for vessels in service around the globe and requires a highly autonomous professional who can operate in a startup-like environment while managing complex government programs, global subcontractor networks, and Navy customer relationships. The position is funded and prioritized by a government customer and is an urgent hire, so the successful candidate must contribute quickly with minimal onboarding and have direct experience in Department of Defense (DoD) contracting environments.
Responsibilities
- Lead sustainment and lifecycle support activities for fielded Navy and DoD assets, ensuring effective operational support for global fleets.
- Own scope execution, cost performance, schedule management, risk mitigation, and customer satisfaction for assigned sustainment and support programs.
- Manage activities that support global fleet sustainment requirements, including coordination of services, logistics, and technical support.
- Maintain project performance metrics and ensure contractual compliance, including developing and implementing recovery plans for schedule, cost, and performance risks.
- Serve as the primary day-to-day point of contact for government stakeholders, including Navy and DoD program offices.
- Lead recurring Integrated Product Team (IPT) meetings with Navy and DoD customers, driving alignment on program status, risks, and corrective actions.
- Present program status, risks, corrective actions, and financial performance to internal and external stakeholders in a clear and confident manner.
- Communicate technical issues effectively to both engineering teams and government customers, bridging the gap between technical and programmatic perspectives.
- Act as a backup representative for senior sustainment leadership during customer engagements, representing the sustainment organization professionally.
- Directly manage a network of secondary and tertiary subcontractors supporting global sustainment operations, including repair and maintenance providers, marine service contractors, freight and logistics providers, OEM equipment suppliers, and engineering and technical consulting firms.
- Hold vendors accountable to cost, schedule, quality, and performance requirements, ensuring that subcontractor deliverables meet contractual obligations.
- Resolve supplier performance issues and lead corrective action plans to restore performance and protect program outcomes.
- Manage programs operating under Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) contracts, ensuring proper oversight of cost, fee, and compliance.
- Monitor labor budgets, billing rates, provisional rates, fee structures, and cost performance to maintain financial control of sustainment programs.
- Develop forecasts, estimates at completion (EACs), variance analyses, and management reports to support program controls and decision-making.
- Ensure compliance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and applicable government contract regulations, supporting audits and financial reviews.
- Support program audits and financial reviews by preparing documentation, responding to inquiries, and implementing any required corrective actions.
- Work closely with internal scheduling teams responsible for Integrated Master Schedules (IMS), ensuring alignment between program plans and execution.
- Maintain detailed project-level schedules using Microsoft Project, tracking milestones, resources, dependencies, and critical paths.
- Monitor Earned Value Management (EVM) performance indicators and use them to assess program health, identify variances, and drive corrective actions.
- Drive schedule recovery planning when delays occur, coordinating stakeholders and resources to restore schedule performance.
- Coordinate engineering investigations and root cause analyses related to asset reliability, failures, and sustainment issues.
- Support reliability assessments and failure-analysis initiatives to improve system performance and reduce lifecycle sustainment costs.
- Interface with OEMs regarding technical issues and product support, ensuring timely resolution of engineering and configuration questions.
- Coordinate configuration management and engineering changes that impact sustainment, ensuring that changes are controlled and properly implemented.
- Coordinate American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) inspections and certifications for vessels, including scheduling, documentation, and follow-up actions.
- Manage purchase orders and contractor engagement for vessel classification activities, ensuring that required inspections and certifications are completed.
- Track findings from inspections and drive closure of corrective actions to maintain compliance with classification and regulatory requirements.
- Take broad direction and independently execute program objectives without requiring extensive oversight.
- Manage multiple priorities simultaneously across engineering, finance, logistics, compliance, and customer requirements in a dynamic environment.
- Build and refine processes in a growing organization where infrastructure and systems are still maturing, contributing to continuous improvement.
- Coordinate diverse stakeholders through influence rather than direct authority, fostering collaboration across internal teams, customers, and subcontractors.
- Present status, defend performance, and drive issue resolution in customer-facing settings, particularly with Navy and government stakeholders.
- Contribute to the growth and success of newly awarded Navy contracts by ensuring high-quality sustainment execution and strong customer relationships.
Essential Skills
- Program or project management experience within defense environments such as the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, defense contractors, military sustainment programs, or aerospace programs.
- Strong understanding of how government-funded defense programs operate, including funding structures, oversight, and reporting requirements.
- Proven experience managing Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) contracts, including fee structures, provisional rates, burdened labor rates, cost tracking, and government financial reporting requirements.
- Working knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), government compliance requirements, and contract administration practices.
- Hands-on experience managing multiple subcontractors, service providers, logistics vendors, and technical suppliers across geographically dispersed operations.
- Demonstrated ability to coordinate diverse stakeholders across engineering, finance, logistics, compliance, and customer organizations.
- Experience with program controls, including Earned Value Management (EVM), cost management, budget forecasting, schedule management, variance analysis, and risk management.
- Comfort leading discussions with Navy customers, government program offices, and defense stakeholders, including presenting status and defending performance.
- Ability to drive issue resolution in customer-facing environments and maintain strong customer relationships in complex defense programs.
- Experience with project management and program execution in defense or government contract settings.
- Capability to manage subcontractor performance, including cost, schedule, quality, and technical requirements.
- Familiarity with integrated master schedules (IMS) and the use of Microsoft Project for detailed project scheduling.
- Experience with American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) inspections and certifications, vessel classification activities, and related regulatory compliance.
- Background in marine, naval vessels, shipbuilding, marine fabrication, fleet sustainment, or naval maintenance programs.
- Experience in defense contracting, including DoD environments, government regulations, and defense contract management.
- Ability to operate autonomously in a fast-paced, startup-like environment without extensive oversight.
- Strong vendor management skills, including oversight of OEMs and external service providers.
- Experience with cost management, budget forecasting, variance analysis, and financial performance monitoring.
- Comfort navigating complex operational environments that include engineering, logistics, operations, and compliance requirements.
- Customer-facing experience presenting program status, risks, and corrective actions to senior stakeholders in government and defense.
Additional Skills & Qualifications
- Industry experience in naval shipbuilding, ship repair, marine fabrication, fleet sustainment, or naval maintenance programs is strongly preferred.
- Experience from related environments such as aerospace sustainment, defense aviation, military vehicle programs, heavy defense manufacturing, defense logistics operations, or large government service programs is considered transferable.
- Familiarity with Integrated Logistics Support (ILS), including provisioning and spares management and supportability planning.
- Experience with technical publications and maintenance manuals used in sustainment and lifecycle support programs.
- Direct experience with American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) processes, inspections, and certification requirements.
- PMP certification or status as a PMP-certified project manager is a valuable asset.
- Experience managing government contracts and all aspects of external customer interactions with OEMs and vendors.
- Background in integrated logistics support (ILS), shipbuilding, marine fabrication, and global sustainment operations.
- Ability to build processes and infrastructure in a growing organization where systems and tools are still evolving.
- Strong analytical skills to interpret EVM metrics, financial data, and variance analyses, and to recommend corrective actions.
- Demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority, coordinating internal teams, customers, and subcontractors toward shared objectives.
- Motivation to be part of a growing team supporting recently awarded Navy contracts, contributing to long-term program success.
- Interest in working in a complex defense support ecosystem that spans engineering, operations, logistics, finance, and compliance.
- Ability to walk ships and manufacturing floors as needed to support inspections, coordination, and on-site problem solving.
Work Environment
This is an onsite position based in Vancouver, with the expectation that the project manager is local and available to work on site rather than remotely. The role involves regular collaboration with internal teams and government customers in an office environment, as well as the flexibility to walk ships and the manufacturing floor when needed to support inspections, coordination, and hands-on sustainment activities. Work is conducted in a dynamic, fast-paced setting that combines elements of a startup-like culture with the rigor of government and defense contracting. The environment emphasizes autonomy, allowing the project manager to own their day, manage customer relationships directly, and make decisions that impact program execution. The organization offers the opportunity to contribute to a growing team tied to recently won Navy contracts, along with benefits such as a bonus opportunity and holiday paid time off. The culture values initiative, cross-functional collaboration, and a proactive approach to solving complex sustainment and lifecycle support challenges.
Job Type & Location
This is a Permanent position based out of Vancouver, WA.
Pay and Benefits
The pay range for this position is $115000.00 - $130000.00/yr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors. pto
401k
tuition support
holiday sick
Workplace Type
This is a fully onsite position in Vancouver,WA.
Application Deadline
This position is anticipated to close on Oct 22, 2026. About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

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