Aerospace Project Manager

Aston Carter; El Cajon (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Aston Carter seeks an experienced Aerospace Project Manager for our El Cajon, CA forging operation. You will lead ramp‑up and rate‑readiness across operations, engineering, quality, and supply chain to ensure safe, compliant, and on‑time delivery.

This hands‑on role requires coordinating schedules, budgets, and resources in a highly regulated environment. The ideal candidate has 3+ years in manufacturing project management including aerospace/defense, with strong scheduling, ERP/MRP, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (Manufacturing/Mechanical/Industrial/Metallurgical).
• 3+ years of project/program management experience in manufacturing, including aerospace/defense or another regulated environment.
• Experience with project scheduling tools (MS Project, Smartsheet, or equivalent) and comfort working with manufacturing systems/data (ERP/MRP, Excel/BI dashboards).
• PMP certification (or active pursuit) preferred; Lean/Six Sigma and/or APQP/PPAP familiarity is a plus.
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities in a high‑tempo environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end ramp‑up and rate‑readiness plans for major aerospace programs and coordinate across operations, engineering, quality, supply chain, maintenance, and finance.
• Develop and maintain integrated master schedules and resource plans including long‑lead materials, tooling, and first‑article milestones.
• Own the project risk/opportunity register; drive mitigation plans with owners and due dates.
• Establish and report ramp‑up KPIs and provide data‑driven recommendations to leadership.
• Facilitate daily/weekly cadences, readiness reviews, and cross‑functional problem‑solving sessions; publish clear agendas and action items.
• Manage project budgets and capital/tooling plans; track actuals vs. plan and forecast to completion.
• Coordinate with Supply Chain to ensure supplier readiness and long‑lead procurement.
• Drive readiness deliverables aligned with customer requirements and site quality system.
• Drive change control throughout ramp‑up, assessing impacts to cost, schedule, and commitments.

Skills

Project management

Scheduling tools

Stakeholder management

Communication

Multitasking

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

MS Project

Smartsheet

Great Plains

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Excel/BI dashboards

SAP

Oracle

ERP/MRP systems

Job description

Job Title: Aerospace Project Manager

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced, hands‑on Project Manager to join our aerospace forging operation during a critical period of commercial growth. This role is accountable for leading production ramp‑up and rate‑readiness initiatives—aligning people, equipment/tooling, processes, suppliers, and quality systems to achieve safe, compliant, and on‑time delivery performance. The ideal candidate is comfortable working across the shop floor and leadership team, drives structured execution (scope/schedule/cost/risk), and thrives in a fast‑paced, highly regulated manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end ramp‑up and rate‑readiness plans for major aerospace commercial programs, coordinating execution across operations, engineering, quality, supply chain, maintenance, and finance.
• Develop and maintain integrated master schedules and resource plans, including long‑lead raw material, outside processing, tooling, equipment capacity, staffing/training, and first‑article/qualification milestones.
• Own the project risk/opportunity register; identify constraints and drive mitigation plans with clear owners, due dates, and escalation paths.
• Establish and report ramp‑up KPIs, providing data‑driven recommendations to leadership.
• Facilitate daily/weekly operating cadences, readiness gate reviews, and cross‑functional problem‑solving sessions; publish clear agendas, decisions, and action‑item closure.
• Manage project budgets and capital/tooling plans; track actuals vs. plan, forecast to completion, and support purchase justification, vendor coordination, installation, and commissioning activities.
• Partner with Supply Chain to ensure supplier readiness and long‑lead procurement, including capacity/risk assessments and recovery plans.
• Coordinate manufacturing readiness deliverables in alignment with customer requirements and the site quality system.
• Drive disciplined change control throughout ramp‑up, ensuring impacts to cost, schedule, capacity, and customer commitments are assessed and communicated.

Essential Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (Manufacturing/Mechanical/Industrial/Metallurgical).
• 3+ years of project/program management experience in manufacturing, including at least 1 year in aerospace/defense or another regulated environment.
• Experience with project scheduling tools (MS Project, Smartsheet, or equivalent) and comfort working with manufacturing systems/data (ERP/MRP, capacity models, Excel/BI dashboards).
• PMP certification (or active pursuit) preferred; Lean/Six Sigma and/or APQP/PPAP familiarity is a plus.
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities in a high‑tempo environment.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience developing and maintaining integrated master schedules and resource plans.
• Budget and CapEx tracking experience.
• ERP/MRP system experience required — current system is Great Plains, transitioning to Microsoft Dynamics 365.
• SAP or Oracle experience a plus.
• AS9100 or NADCAP familiarity beneficial but not required.
• Highly organized, methodical, and process‑driven.

Work Environment

This position is 100% onsite in El Cajon, CA at the Precision Metal Products forge facility. Approximately 60% of the time is spent on the production floor with 40% in the office, with some weeks shifting to 70/30 floor heavy depending on the program phase. The role is a high‑visibility position with direct interaction with the CEO, VP of Operations, and plant leadership. The position offers cross‑functional exposure spanning virtually every department including engineering, operations, supply chain, finance, HR, production, and external vendors.

Job Type & Location

This is a Permanent position based out of El Cajon, CA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $100000.00 - $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.

benefits, PTO, etc provided upon offer

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in El Cajon,CA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Aug 31, 2026.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email [e-mail] ([e-mail]) for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.