Program Manager

Job Title: Program Manager (Contract) Job Description
The Program Manager will lead complex, defense-focused aerospace programs from initial planning through final delivery and contract completion. This role ensures that cost, schedule, technical, quality, and customer objectives are consistently achieved while coordinating cross-functional execution across engineering, manufacturing, and support teams. The Program Manager will guide integrated program plans, manage risks, and serve as a primary customer interface, supporting the delivery of integrated missile, propulsion, launch, payload, and defense-system solutions.
Responsibilities
- Lead assigned programs through planning, development, qualification, production, delivery, and contract completion.
- Own performance against cost, schedule, technical, quality, contractual, and customer objectives for assigned programs.
- Develop and maintain integrated program plans, including schedules, budgets, milestones, resource requirements, and performance metrics.
- Coordinate cross-functional execution across engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, contracts, finance, and test organizations.
- Serve as a primary interface for customers, prime contractors, government stakeholders, suppliers, and internal leadership.
- Identify programmatic, technical, supply-chain, cost, and schedule risks and drive mitigation and recovery plans.
- Lead recurring program reviews and communicate financial performance, risks, decisions, dependencies, and corrective actions to stakeholders.
- Support design reviews, test-readiness reviews, qualification activities, production-readiness reviews, and customer acceptance events.
- Manage contractual deliverables, statements of work, program changes, customer requests, and scope changes throughout the program lifecycle.
- Support proposals, cost and schedule estimates, contract negotiations, follow-on opportunities, and program-growth activities.
- Ensure effective customer interface and communication, maintaining clear and timely updates on program status and issues.
- Provide matrix leadership across integrated product teams (IPTs) to align priorities, resolve issues, and maintain execution discipline.
- Oversee master scheduling activities, material planning, and coordination with manufacturing to support on-time hardware delivery.
- Collaborate closely with engineering and manufacturing teams to support aerospace manufacturing processes and defense contract requirements.
Essential Skills
- 5 or more years of experience supporting or managing aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, or similarly complex technical programs.
- Proven program management and project management experience in a complex, technical environment.
- Demonstrated ability to manage cost, schedule, technical, and quality performance for multi-disciplinary programs.
- Strong experience with master scheduling, schedule management, and material planning in a manufacturing or hardware development environment.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Project and master scheduling software, including MS Project Server or similar tools.
- Experience working with aerospace, space, defense, military, or government contract programs.
- Background in aerospace manufacturing, mechanical engineering, or related technical disciplines sufficient to support hardware development programs.
- Ability to lead and influence in a matrix leadership environment and work effectively with integrated product teams (IPTs).
- Strong customer interface and customer communication skills, including experience presenting program status and risks.
- Effective internal communication skills to coordinate across engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, finance, and executive leadership.
- Demonstrated budgeting and budget management capabilities for complex programs.
- Experience working within defense contract environments and meeting contractual deliverable requirements.
Additional Skills & Qualifications
- Bachelors degree in engineering, business program management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.
- Experience with government contracts in aerospace, space, defense, or military programs.
- Familiarity with manufacturing processes and composite manufacturing for aerospace and defense hardware.
- Experience supporting design reviews, test-readiness reviews, qualification testing, and production-readiness activities.
- Ability to manage statements of work, program changes, and scope changes while maintaining program objectives.
- Experience supporting proposals, estimates, contract negotiations, and follow-on business or program growth.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to identify risks and drive effective mitigation and recovery plans.
- Comfort working in a fast-paced environment with multiple concurrent projects and shifting priorities.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and executive stakeholders across the full product lifecycle.
Work Environment
This role is based primarily onsite in a composite manufacturing facility that supports aerospace and defense hardware development. The work environment is a collaborative engineering and manufacturing setting with frequent interaction with engineers, manufacturing teams, quality personnel, and leadership. The program environment is fast-paced, with multiple concurrent projects and close coordination required between hardware development and production activities. The position offers high visibility and significant cross-functional exposure across engineering, manufacturing, quality, and executive leadership, with opportunities to lead mission-critical aerospace and defense development programs and work on advanced technologies including missiles, propulsion systems, composites, and space-related products.
Job Type & Location
This is a Contract position based out of Huntington Beach, CA.
Pay and Benefits
The pay range for this position is $67.00 - $77.00/hr. 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. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job
classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be
subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits
available for this temporary role may include the following:

Medical, dental & vision
Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
Short and long-term disability
Health Spending Account (HSA)
Transportation benefits
Employee Assistance Program
Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)
Job Type & Location
This is a Contract position based out of Huntington Beach, CA.
Application Deadline
This position is anticipated to close on Oct 23, 2026.
Workplace Type
This is a fully onsite position in Huntington Beach,CA. 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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Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the
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