Program Manager

Hana Defense Solutions - A Hana Group Team; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hana-owned MacBook Pro

Flexible PTO

Short-term disability insurance

401k

FSA for eligible expenses

Job summary

Hana Defense Solutions Team in Washington, DC is seeking a Program Manager to lead human-centered design, research, communications, and implementation for government and defense projects within The Hana Group.

You will guide cross-functional teams through the full lifecycle, manage risks and dependencies, maintain client relationships, and ensure on-time delivery of high-quality solutions for DoW and federal clients. Travel to client sites will be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Management, Human-Centered Design, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience working with DoW, federal clients, or other mission-critical organizations.
• 2+ years of experience managing multi-disciplinary teams.
• Experience delivering human-centered design solutions with user research.
• Experience with task management platforms like Jira.
• Experience with program budgeting and profitability.
• Executive-level communication skills with clients and leadership.
• Ability to travel for in-person sessions with clients.
• U.S. citizen and DoD security clearance (Secret or higher).

Responsibilities

• Serve as the customer point of contact for leadership and partner organizations.
• Lead the full project lifecycle: define vision, gather requirements, oversee execution, drive adoption.
• Manage scope, performance, and risk across programs.
• Maintain relationships between customer, leadership, partner organizations, and internal teams.
• Coordinate logistics for meetings, workshops, and collaborative sessions.
• Supervise and mentor project team members.
• Oversee onboarding and integration of new team members onto the program.
• Identify opportunities to extend current contracts and develop new business.
• Attend weekly or bi-weekly syncs with Program Managers.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Project mentorship

Agile delivery

Executive communication

Client engagement

DoD/DoW experience

Budget management

Travel coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Management/Human-Centered Design

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Figma

Adobe

Job description

HANA DEFENSE SOLUTIONS TEAM |THE HANA GROUP

Program Manager

Position Overview

This is not a technical position. As the Program Manager, you will lead human-centered design, research, communications, and implementation efforts within our Hana Defense Solutions (HDS) team, part of the Native Hawaiian nonprofit corporation The Hana Group.

From strategic vision to tactical implementation, we deliver adaptable, mission-centered solutions that help government and defense clients achieve lasting impact. Our team supports the mission-critical efforts of the Department of War (DoW) and federal clients through human-centered design, technology, and co-development.

As the Program Manager, you'll provide project leadership over cross-functional teams, working closely with senior leadership, stakeholders, and the customer to manage workstreams, tasking, program risks and dependencies, and project outcomes. You'll ensure the delivery of high-quality products that address the complex problems and pain points the DoW faces, and you'll be expected to not only manage your project, but to maintain the relationship that keeps the contract moving forward or expanding.

Primary Responsibilities

• Serve as the customer point of contact for leadership and partner organizations, ensuring continuous alignment between mission needs and deliverables
• Support the development and execution of strategic plans, frameworks, and recommendations that align with DoW mission objectives
• Lead the full project lifecycle: define vision, gather and prioritize requirements, oversee execution, and drive adoption of solutions and strategies
• Maintain relationships between the customer, leadership, partner organizations, and the internal team
• Facilitate and initiate communication between client leadership, internal teams, and partner organizations across programs so objectives and expectations stay clearly defined
• Manage project scope, performance, and risk
• Attend weekly syncs with Program Managers to communicate identified cross-program risks, dependencies, and resource conflicts
• Regularly attend in-person customer meetings on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, as required
• Maintain project documentation, deliverable schedules, and task trackers to ensure accurate visibility into solution status, escalating issues as needed
• Lead the preparation of client briefs, progress reports, and leadership summaries
• Document lessons learned, frameworks, and methodologies for reuse and knowledge sharing within the organization
• Coordinate logistics for meetings, workshops, and collaborative sessions
• Supervise and mentor project team members, providing coaching focused on delivery quality and client satisfaction
• Oversee onboarding and integration of new team members onto the program
• Identify opportunities to extend current contracts and develop new business with related clients
• Other duties as assigned

What Sets You Apart

• Experience owning both strategic direction and tactical delivery within small, high-accountability teams
• Track record of supervising and mentoring project teams, with a focus on delivery quality and client satisfaction
• Comfort running an agile delivery cadence (e.g., sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives) to keep teams and clients aligned
• Ability to manage program budget and profitability alongside day-to-day delivery
• Executive-level communication skills, with experience briefing clients and leadership on progress, risk, and recommendations
• Ability to translate vague client requests into structured plans and clear next steps
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Management, Human-Centered Design, or a related field
• 5+ years of experience working with DoW, federal clients, or other mission-critical organizations
• 2+ years of experience managing multi-disciplinary teams
• Proven ability to develop and execute program strategy in complex environments
• Experience delivering human-centered design solutions, with working knowledge of user research
• Background in business development and contract expansion
• Experience with task management platforms like Jira
• Experience managing backlogs, and understanding risks, dependencies, and mitigation
• Strong client engagement, communication, and organizational leadership skills
• Knowledge of DoW contracting, performance management, and budget execution
• Ability to travel for in-person sessions with clients
• Must be a U.S. citizen and possess a DoD Secret or higher security clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with Confluence, Figma, Adobe, and other tools
• Experience leading distributed, hybrid, or fully remote teams across multiple geographic locations
• Familiarity with defense logistics and acquisitions, cyber and technology, operational and infrastructure, and other defense workstreams
• Proven experience briefing senior military officers, SES-level officials, or other executive government leaders
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for qualified Health, Dependent Care, and Transportation expenses
• Hana-owned MacBook Pro
• Flexible PTO
• Short term disability insurance
• 401k

Work Schedule

• Full time, 40 hours per week
• Remote with periodic on-site presence at client locations as needed (2-3 days/week for some positions)