Program Manager - Aerospace

Valence Surface Technologies; Garden Grove (CA); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision

401k Employer Match

Paid Time Off

Holidays & Float Holiday

Job summary

Valence Surface Technologies in Garden Grove, CA is seeking a Program Manager to oversee defined customer accounts and coordinate cross-functional teams across operations, shipping, quality, and finance to meet deadlines.

You will review order status, manage shipping routes, escalate issues, and communicate with customers to ensure on-time delivery and quality, while aligning with ITAR requirements and company policies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, engineering management, aerospace, business or related field.
• 3-5 years of experience in aerospace, defense, or comparable technical programs.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage defined list of customer accounts and coordinate with operations and shipping leaders to optimize routes.
• Create daily in-house order status reports to track completion dates against plan.
• Resolve issues causing orders to be held or delayed, escalating as needed.
• Ensure cross-department communication between quality, operations, finance and customer service.
• Review order dates to align truck pick-ups with due dates and prevent delays.
• Coordinate with receiving, planning and contracts to assess order splits and approvals.
• Communicate with customers to pre-plan for critical or high-priority orders.
• Ensure engineering data (blueprints, CATIA models, specs) is retrieved and shared for processing.
• Mark expedited orders in MPR system and document expedite fees in order notes.
• Update MRP customer contacts for order acknowledgments and completion notices.
• Collaborate with accounting to set up terms for new customers under the program.
• Conduct periodic scorecard reviews with Quality, Customer Service, and executives to identify trends and take action.
• Participate in root-cause corrective actions for defined customers and review New Part Integration activities.
• Travel to defined customers as required and work with sales to secure new work packages.
• Other duties as assigned

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Job description

Job Overview

Reports to: General Manager at the site

Location: Garden Grove & Lynwood, CA

Type: Full-Time (Exempt)

Schedule: 1st Shift (Hybrid)

Job Summary

• Manage defined list of customer accounts (subject to change based on company performance and growth).
• Coordinate with operations and shipping department leaders to manage company shipping truck routes in to include schedule, pick up, and drop off locations.
• Create daily report of customer orders currently in-house to review scheduled expected completion dates against current order status to ensure orders complete on time.
• Carry out required actions to resolve issues resulting in orders being placed on hold or causing orders to exceed defined lead times for each process. The program manager is responsible for pushing to resolve issues and escalating to department and/or site leadership team members if resolutions to issues is not achieved in a timely manner.
• Ensure adequate communications is carried out between quality, operations, finance, and customer service departments to supports the customer expectation.
• Review order completion dates to coordinate between truck routes (i.e. pick-up dates) and order completion dates to prevent delays.
• Work with receiving, planning, scheduling, and contract review personnel o review each incoming order for defined customers and programs; determine if order splits are required to ensure due dates are met including communication to customers for approval.
• Communicate with customers to identify orders that require pre-planning before order is delivered for critical orders and/or high priority expedite orders.
• Ensure all required engineering (i.e. blueprints, CATIA models, specifications, part mark aids, etc.) is retrieved, prior to order deliveries, to be disseminated to the appropriate personnel to implement into processing plan.
• Ensure all orders requiring expedited completion are marked as expedite within company MPR system, including listed expedite fee listed within specific order notes.
• Oversee the updating of MRP customer contact listing for each defined customer for the auto-generated order acknowledgment and order completion notification emails.
• Partner with accounting department to set up new terms and conditions within MRP system for new customers under the Program Manager responsible customer list.
• Communicate with all defined customers to establish scheduled scorecard retrieval and review for delivery and quality metrics.
• Perform scheduled reviews with Quality Manager, Customer Service Manager, and/or their defined representatives over the information contained within each customer scorecard to identify negative trends and establish corrective and/or preventative actions.
• Review non-conformances issued from company on defined customer list.
• Participate in root‑cause corrective actions for defined customers to provide input and feedback as required to prevent recurring issues.
• Review New Part Integration activities carried out by defined customer list for work packages and/or processes.
• Travel to defined customers as required to carry out meetings, review performance metrics, and to work with sales personnel to obtain new work package.
• Other duties as assigned

Key Responsibilities

• Program Leadership
• Cross-functional Coordination
• Schedule & Milestone Management
• Customer & Stakeholder Communication
• Supplier coordination (for any special /outliers like specialized paint)

Benefits

• Compensation Range $85K-125k (DOE)
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Employer Paid Basic Life, Supplemental Life Insurance, 401k Employer Match
• Generous Paid Time Off program
• 8 Holidays and 1 Floater Holiday
• Required Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, engineering management, aerospace, business or related field
• 3-5 years of experience in aerospace, defense, or comparable technical programs
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Preferred Qualifications
• Experience with aerospace, or defense systems
• Experience in fast-paced development environments or structured defense programs
• Success Indicators
• Strong ability to translate technical details into clear program direction
• Proactive risk identification and mitigation
• High-quality communication with executives and customers
• Ability to drive accountability across different departments.
• Consistent on-time delivery with quality conforming parts.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Working conditions are normal for an office environment but may be exposed to shop conditions.

Valence Surface Technologies is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Additionally, Valence Surface Technologies participates in the E-Verify program to ensure employment eligibility of newly hired employees where required.

This position requires access to knowledge and technical data regulated by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Valence Surface Technologies is required to verify that applicants meet ITAR requirements prior to employment for this role.