Senior Manager, Defense Programs

The role

You will lead customer engagement and execution across government and industry programs. You will manage program schedules, budgets, and cross-functional teams to deliver on contractual commitments.

What you will do

• Lead customer relationships and program leadership across government and industry programs
• Manage program schedules, milestones, budgets, deliverables, resource plans, and risk management
• Coordinate cross-functional execution with engineering, operations, supply chain, and external partners
• Identify program risks, corrective actions, customer issues, and decisions for executive attention
• Plan and execute government demonstrations, test events, operational assessments, and customer deployments
• Manage customer expectations, contract requirements, scope changes, cost-to-complete estimates, and resource forecasts
• Provide clear, timely program reporting and accountability for commitments
• Support proposals, follow-on opportunities, and transitions from demonstrations to production and fielding

Required qualifications

• 7+ years in defense program management, government acquisition, military program execution, or defense industry operations
• Experience in a customer-facing program management, government acquisition, or comparable leadership role
• Demonstrated success managing complex programs with multiple stakeholders, budgets, schedules, and deliverables
• Strong understanding of Department of Defense organizations, acquisition processes, and government-industry relationships
• Ability to coordinate cross-functional teams and manage competing priorities
• Technical aptitude to collaborate with engineering teams
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant military, government, or industry experience

Nice to have

• Experience with counter-UAS, directed energy, air defense, or related defense technologies
• Experience with Other Transaction agreements, FAR-based contracts, or DoD rapid acquisition pathways
• Experience with defense technology development, prototyping, demonstrations, or rapid fielding
• Experience in an early-stage or growth-stage defense technology company
• Active U.S. security clearance; eligibility to obtain and maintain a clearance

Benefits

• Competitive salary + equity
• United Health Care medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 18 days PTO
• Flexible sick days
• Two-week winter break
• Real ownership over your work

Before you apply

• Requires U.S. Person status (U.S. citizen, legal permanent resident, or certain protected classes)
• Willingness to travel to government sites and test events

About the company

Aurelius Systems is a VC backed defense tech startup building autonomous, edge deployed directed energy systems for counter-UAS. They build laser weapons to shoot down drones.