Deputy Program Manager - Arrowhead

Griffon Aerospace; Madison (AL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Benefits: medical, dental, vision, 401

PTO and holidays

Relocation assistance

Ownership and impact on real hardware

Job summary

Griffon Aerospace seeks a Deputy Program Manager for the Arrowhead portfolio, commanding budget, schedule, technical performance, and customer satisfaction. This hands-on role operates on the flight line, in the lab, and on calls with customers to execute programs and recover plans when needed.

You will mentor cross-functional teams and uphold Griffon’s ownership culture while interfacing with government offices, primes, and end users. A bachelor’s degree and 3+ years in defense PM are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, or related discipline is required or closely related.
• 3+ years of program management experience in defense aerospace, UAS, or adjacent fields.
• Experience managing DoD development or production programs from $5M to $50M+.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the Arrowhead portfolio across active contracts and development efforts.
• Develop, maintain, and actively manage integrated master schedules (IMS) with real milestones to minimize dependence on purely success-based goals.
• Drive cost, schedule, and technical performance to plan; identify and burn down risk before they can be realized.
• Support monthly program reviews, CDRs, PDRs, and customer milestone events.
• Manage financial baseline and variance analysis to mitigate surprises to leadership or the customer.

Skills

Program management

Defense aerospace

DoD development/production

EVM

IMS

Risk management

CDR/PDR processes

Secret clearance

Travel up to 30%

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Engineering

Master's degree (MBA) preferred

Job description

Who We Are

Griffon Aerospace designs, builds, and flies unmanned aerial systems that perform. We are a focused team of engineers and operators who care about mission success before satisfying any other "metrics." We don't hand work off and walk away. We own it. Our culture is defined by technical rigor, follow-through, and refusal to accept "good enough."

The Arrowhead family of systems are being fielded today, and we need a Deputy Program Manager who can bring organizational scale to a growing and evolving product line. We need a candidate who can manage schedule, technical risk, and customer relationships in parallel.

The Role

As Deputy PM for the Arrowhead portfolio, you will be an accountable leader for: budget, schedule, technical performance, customer satisfaction, and team execution. You go beyond coordination and provide tactical execution.

This is a hands-on role. You will be on the flight line when things are getting sorted out. You will be in the lab when the engineering teams need to make critical decisions. You will be on the phone when a customer faces challenges, and you will already have a recovery plan ready to make them whole and confident in our commitments to their success. You will support cross-functional teams of engineers, technicians, and support staff, and you will be a standard bearer for our organization.

What You'll Own

Program Execution

• Responsibility for the Arrowhead portfolio across active contracts and development efforts
• Develop, maintain, and actively manage integrated master schedules (IMS) with real milestones to minimize dependence on purely success-based goals
• Drive cost, schedule, and technical performance to plan; identify and burn down risk before they can be realized
• Support monthly program reviews, CDRs, PDRs, and customer milestone events
• Manage financial baseline and variance analysis to mitigate surprises to leadership or the customer

Technical Responsibility

• Foster technical decision making across the program; understanding the system deeply enough to challenge assumptions and make informed trades
• Partner with Engineering, Flight Test, and Manufacturing to ensure technical requirements are achievable, tested, and delivered
• Promote rapid decision-making when design, test, or fielding issues arise
• Engage directly in failure investigations, root cause analyses, and corrective action follow-through

Customer & Stakeholder Management

• Interface with Government program offices, prime contractors, and end users
• Communicate status, risks, and issues proactively
• Identify and capture follow-on business, contract modifications, and program growth opportunities
• Represent Griffon at industry events, customer visits, and proposal activities as required

Team & Culture

• Cultivate a high-performing, low-ego team that runs toward problems, not away from them
• Establish practices and standards that outlast any single program
• Embody and enforce Griffon's ownership culture: every team member knows their piece and is accountable for it

What We're Looking For

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, or a closely related technical discipline
• 3+ years of program management experience in defense aerospace, UAS, or adjacent fields
• Demonstrated track record managing DoD development or production programs from $5M to $50M+
• Hands-on experience with aircraft or UAS systems
• Strong command of program management fundamentals: EVM, IMS, risk management, CDR/PDR processes
• Active Secret clearance (or ability to obtain)
• Comfortable traveling to customer sites, field operations, and test events up to 30%

Strongly Preferred

• Master's degree in Engineering or Business (MBA), or equivalent operational experience
• Direct experience with Group 2–4 UAS programs in development, test, or production
• Familiarity with MIL-STD airworthiness, DO-178/DO-254, or UAS-specific certification pathways
• PMP, DAWIA, or equivalent program management certification
• Prior military aviation or UAS operational background
• Active Top Secret clearance

The Kind of Person Who Thrives Here

You show up.

When something is broken in the field, you're on a plane. You don't manage from behind a screen.

You don't quit.

Problems are resolved, not deferred. You find a way or you make one.

You own the outcome but share the glory.

The whole thing. If the program is late, that's yours. If it delivers, the team is praised not just you.

You communicate first.

Plans, issues, and new data travels fast here.

What Griffon Offers

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience and clearance level
• Comprehensive benefits: medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and 10 federal holidays
• Relocation assistance available for qualified candidates
• A small company where your decisions matter and your fingerprints are on real hardware flying real missions

Griffon Aerospace – Come Build the Unfair Advantage.