Practice Lead, Technical Project & Program Management

General Atomics Intelligence; Charlottesville (VA); On-site; USD 141,000 - 257,000; Full time

Job summary

GA-Intelligence is seeking an experienced Functional Group Manager to lead the Project and Program Management function, overseeing 20-40 PMs and PgMs across our Solutions and Product teams. The role focuses on people management, workforce development, and strategic staffing within a matrix organization.

You will partner with Solutions and Product leadership on workforce allocation, lead hiring efforts, and drive excellence in the PM discipline through training and professional development

Qualifications

• Typically requires a Bachelor’s in Business Administration or related discipline with fifteen+ years of progressively complex experience in project administration, including at least nine years in project management.
• Proven experience mentoring and developing project/program managers from junior to senior levels.
• Experience with budget planning and forecasting and understanding how project financials contribute to overall company finances.
• Experience conducting performance reviews and managing career development.
• Experience recruiting and interviewing PM talent.
• Strong technical background with ability to discuss technical topics credibly with engineers.

Responsibilities

• Serve as administrative supervisor and 'home room' manager for 20-40 project/program managers.
• Aggregate performance feedback and execute performance reviews.
• Establish and maintain career paths for PM disciplines.
• Design and deliver PM training programs, onboarding and upskilling PMs.
• Coordinate experimentation with emerging technologies to augment the PM role.
• Organize and support communities of interest to share learnings and best practices.
• Make strategic staffing decisions and balance employee growth with business priorities.
• Lead hiring efforts for PM roles and coordinate with Talent Acquisition.
• Create onboarding materials and coordinate structured onboarding for new hires.

Skills

Leadership & People Mgmt

Budgeting & Forecasting

DoD/Intelligence Culture

PM Methodologies (PMP/PgMP)

Stakeholder Communication

Talent Development

Education

Bachelor's in Business Administration

Job description

Job Summary

GA-Intelligence maintains and deploys production systems for users across the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, and commercial industry. We build and develop best-in-class all domain and globally focused situational awareness capabilities, including THRESHER and DRAGONSPELL, that process petabytes of data in near real time. Our systems apply state-of-the-art algorithms and machine learning techniques to extract features and fuse data to form a rich live view of objects in the sky, on the sea, and on the ground. Our rapidly growing suite of federal software solutions are used by thousands of intelligence analysts and military personnel around the globe to counter new and emerging threats to national security.

GA-Intelligence has established a people-centered organization with a matrix staffing model to support our rapid growth and technical excellence. We are seeking an experienced Functional Group Manager to lead our Project and Program Management function, serving as the "home room" manager for approximately 20-40 project and program managers while they execute across our Solutions and Product teams.

As a Functional Group Manager, you will be responsible for the professional wellbeing, career development, and administrative oversight of the project and program managers assigned to you. You will partner with Solutions and Product leadership on workforce allocation, lead hiring efforts for your functional group, and foster excellence in the project management discipline through training, communities of practice, and professional development initiatives. This role balances people management, project management community leadership, and strategic workforce planning.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Talent Management & Career Development

• Serve as the administrative supervisor and "home room" manager for 20-40 technical project and program managers (PjMs and PgMs) who serve contracts with a heavy software engineering focus
• Aggregate performance feedback from Solutions and Product group leadership, and execute performance reviews within GA Corporate HR systems
• Establish and maintain career paths specific to the project and program management disciplines

Training & Professional Development

• Design and deliver training programs that develop project and program managers - from onboarding new PMs to upskilling experienced practitioners
• Coordinate internal experimentation with emerging technologies that can augment the PM role - such as rapidly prototyping lightweight applications or building AI-assisted workflows - and ensure learnings are shared across teams
• Facilitate professional development opportunities (conferences, training courses, independent projects)
• Organize and support communities of interest/excellence to share learnings and best practices for project and program management within GA-Intelligence

Staffing & Resource Allocation

• Make strategic staffing decisions, assigning project and program managers to Solutions and Product teams, balancing employee interest and growth with business priorities
• Conduct regular check-ins with day-to-day leaders to discuss employee performance and assignment fit

Recruiting & Hiring

• Serve as hiring manager for new project and program management hires, coordinating with GA Talent Acquisition partners
• Establish function-specific hiring practices for project and program management roles

Onboarding & Integration

• Create and maintain function-relevant onboarding training materials for project and program managers
• Coordinate structured onboarding for new hires in coordination with their initial placement team

ADDITIONAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Participate in strategic workforce planning to anticipate future project and program management skill needs
• Partner with Finance and Program Control on budget planning and forecasting requirements, and help project managers understand how their project financials roll up into overall company financials
• Contribute to building a delivery-focused culture centered on execution excellence and mission outcomes
• Work within GA Corporate HR systems, policies, and performance review cycles
• Track and report on key metrics including employee satisfaction, retention, staffing fulfillment, and professional development participation

We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.

Job Qualifications

• Typically requires a Bachelors in Business Administration or related discipline and fifteen or more years of progressively complex experience in the project administration field with at least nine of those years in project management. May substitute equivalent experience in lieu of education.
• Proven experience managing, mentoring, and developing project and/or program managers from junior to senior levels
• Experience with budget planning and forecasting, and an understanding of how project financials contribute to overall company financials
• Experience conducting performance reviews and managing career development
• Experience recruiting and interviewing project and program management talent
• Strong technical background with ability to speak credibly on technical topics with engineers and technical stakeholders
• Deep understanding of project management methodologies and the software development lifecycle
• Excellent judgment in making staffing and resource allocation decisions
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with ability to influence without direct authority and build relationships across a matrix organization
• Ability to obtain and maintain DoD Security Clearance is required.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Military or defense contracting experience
• Understanding of government contracting and cleared environments
• Previous experience in a matrix organization or similar dual-reporting structure
• PMP, PgMP, or similar project/program management certification
• Experience establishing or scaling project management organizations or a Project Management Office (PMO)
• Familiarity with professional development frameworks and career ladders for project and program managers
• Familiarity with using emerging technology to enhance the project management role beyond standard project management and productivity software - for example, building custom applications or AI-assisted workflows to streamline PM work
• Experience navigating corporate HR systems while advocating for delivery teams
• Strong network in the project and program management community for recruiting purposes

Job Type: Full-Time Salary

Salary range: 140,900 - 257,233