Senior Project Manager – Defense Programs

Senior Project Manager – Defense Programs About the Role The Senior Project Manager – Defense Programs is responsible for the successful execution and governance of customer programs, with a particular focus on U.S. defense and government customers. This role ensures that commercial and contractual commitments translate into predictable delivery, controlled risk, protected margins, and compliance with applicable customer, government, security, and regulatory requirements. The Senior Project Manager serves as the primary execution interface between the customer and CM Labs and coordinates Engineering, Product, Operations, Supply Chain, IT/Security, and Commercial teams throughout the program lifecycle. The role also supports the CPO by ensuring high-quality execution data, dashboards, risk visibility, and analytics are available to support portfolio-level decisions. Key Responsibilities Defense Program & Contract Execution Lead execution of U.S. defense and government programs from contract award through final acceptance. Translate contractual requirements, Statements of Work (SOWs), specifications, CDRLs, and customer commitments into executable program plans. Establish and manage program baselines covering scope, schedule, cost, deliverables, dependencies, and acceptance criteria. Define and manage key program milestones and reviews, including PDR, CDR, FAT, SAT, and customer acceptance. Ensure contractual deliverables, documentation, approvals, and customer dependencies are identified and tracked throughout execution. Maintain strong configuration and change-control discipline throughout the program lifecycle. U.S. Government Compliance & Security Ensure program execution considers applicable U.S. government and defense requirements, including FAR/DFARS clauses and customer-specific contractual requirements. Coordinate compliance activities related to cybersecurity and protection of government information, including CUI requirements and applicable NIST 800-171 / CMMC obligations. Understand how security requirements affect program execution, personnel, systems, information sharing, subcontractors, and customer interactions. Coordinate with internal specialists and external advisors on export-control requirements, including ITAR and EAR, when applicable. Ensure hardware and supply-chain decisions consider applicable sourcing and country-of-origin requirements, including TAA and other contractual restrictions. Identify compliance requirements early and ensure appropriate owners, evidence, documentation, and mitigation plans are established. Support customer security questionnaires, compliance reviews, audits, and program-specific security requirements. Program Governance & Delivery Oversight Own end-to-end program governance for awarded customer projects. Track scope, schedule, cost, dependencies, deliverables, and risk against approved baselines. Ensure execution remains aligned with proposal and contractual commitments. Establish clear program governance, reporting cadence, decision forums, and escalation mechanisms. Maintain accurate forecasts for schedule, cost-to-complete, resource requirements, and program margin. Cross-Functional Execution Leadership Coordinate execution across Engineering, Product, Curriculum, Software, Hardware, Operations, Supply Chain, IT/Security, and Commercial teams. Drive resolution of cross-functional dependencies and execution blockers. Ensure teams remain aligned on contractual commitments, priorities, and delivery sequencing. Coordinate external suppliers, subcontractors, and partners where required. Ensure responsibilities and program decisions are clearly documented and communicated. Customer & Commercial Interface Serve as the primary customer interface for program execution. Establish trusted working relationships with government customers, prime contractors, OEMs, and program stakeholders. Lead program reviews and discussions concerning schedule, deliverables, scope clarification, acceptance, and execution risks. Manage customer expectations while maintaining alignment with contractual commitments. Protect program margin through disciplined scope management and change control. Identify out-of-scope requests and work with Commercial teams to establish appropriate change orders or contract modifications. Risk & Issue Management Establish and maintain program risk, issue, action, and decision registers. Proactively identify technical, contractual, security, compliance, supply-chain, resource, schedule, and customer risks. Quantify potential impacts and drive mitigation actions with accountable owners and timelines. Escalate material risks early and provide leadership with clear options and recommendations. Capture lessons learned and apply them to future defense programs and proposals. Qualifications 8+ years of project/program management experience, including responsibility for complex technical or engineering programs. Demonstrated experience delivering programs for the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. federal government, defense prime contractors, or major defense suppliers. Working knowledge of U.S. government contracting and compliance requirements, including FAR and DFARS. Familiarity with CUI handling, NIST SP 800-171, CMMC, and defense cybersecurity requirements. Familiarity with U.S. export controls such as ITAR and EAR. Experience working with government supply-chain and sourcing requirements; familiarity with TAA and related country-of-origin restrictions is strongly preferred. Experience managing formal customer reviews and acceptance milestones such as PDR, CDR, FAT, and SAT. Strong understanding of scope management, change control, risk management, cost management, and program forecasting. Strong executive and customer communication skills. Ability to interpret complex contractual and technical requirements and translate them into actionable execution plans. Preferred Qualifications PMP, PgMP, or equivalent program-management certification. Experience with military training systems, modeling and simulation, vehicle simulation, synthetic training environments, or related defense technologies. Experience working with U.S. defense prime contractors and/or directly with DoD program offices. Experience with government contracting vehicles, contract modifications, CDRLs, DIDs, and formal government acceptance processes. Experience managing hardware/software integrated systems. Experience with international defense programs and export-controlled technical information. Previous involvement in CMMC or NIST 800-171 compliance initiatives. Experience establishing program-management processes for an organization expanding into the U.S. defense market.