Defense Programs Senior Project Manager

Accelcia Business Services; Sandy (UT); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Accelcia Business Services seeks a Senior Project Manager for Defense Programs to lead the execution of U.S. defense and government contracts, coordinating Engineering, Product, Operations, Supply Chain, IT/Security, and Commercial teams through the full program lifecycle.

You will translate contracts into executable plans, manage baselines, milestones (PDR/CDR/FAT/SAT), and ensure compliance with FAR/DFARS and CUI/NIST/CMMC requirements while protecting margins.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of project/program management experience, including responsibility for complex technical or engineering programs.
• 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, моделинг 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.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Job description

Accelcia Business Services seeks a Senior Project Manager for Defense Programs to lead the execution of U.S. defense and government contracts, coordinating Engineering, Product, Operations, Supply Chain, IT/Security, and Commercial teams through the full program lifecycle.

You will translate contracts into executable plans, manage baselines, milestones (PDR/CDR/FAT/SAT), and ensure compliance with FAR/DFARS and CUI/NIST/CMMC requirements while protecting margins.