Program Manager (Aerospace & Defense)

Molex; Georgetown (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Molex's Aerospace & Defense Solutions (ADS) division seeks a Program Manager to lead assigned customer programs and portfolios, translating requirements into integrated execution plans across commercial, technical, and operational teams.

You will oversee governance, risk management, and delivery from planning to delivery, aligning resources and priorities while driving profitable growth and customer satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, or related field or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in program/project management, manufacturing, operations, engineering, quality, supply chain, aerospace or defense.
• 3+ years leading programs, projects, or matrixed teams with schedules, risks, decisions, and results.
• Ability to integrate commercial, technical, and operational inputs into executable plans and drive performance.
• Experience establishing governance, managing risk, and communicating program performance to customers and senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Own integrated program execution from planning through delivery, managing scope, schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, actions, decisions, and commitments.
• Align customer requirements with business priorities, capacity, and resources; surface tradeoffs and resolve.
• Establish and operate program governance with cross-functional cadences, reviews, escalation paths, and reporting.
• Translate demand, forecasts, and changes into coordinated plans for delivery, quality, capacity, inventory, and responsiveness.
• Anticipate and mitigate risks; lead structured recovery for delivery disruptions and quality events.
• Maintain the program management baseline and control system with dashboards, risk registers, and recovery plans.
• Collaborate with commercial and operations leaders on strategy, forecast quality, launches, margins, and growth.
• Use feedback and root-cause analysis to eliminate recurring issues and improve customer experience.
• Monitor program performance and report health, outlook, risks, and recovery to stakeholders.

Skills

Program management

Cross-functional leadership

Risk management

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Engineering/Supply Chain/Operations

Tools

Microsoft Office

ERP/MRP systems

BI tools / dashboards

Performance reporting

Job description

As Program Manager within the Molex Aerospace & Defense Solutions (ADS) division, you will report to the Division PMO Lead and provide program management leadership for assigned customer programs and portfolios. You will translate customer requirements, contractual commitments, demand, and strategic priorities into integrated execution plans that align commercial, technical, and operational teams.

You will serve as the Program Manager for assigned customer programs and portfolios, establishing clear governance, enabling timely decisions, and driving disciplined cross-functional execution across Account Management, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain and Operations, Procurement, and Sales. Your leadership will help ADS deliver customer commitments, improve operational performance, manage program risk, and support profitable growth.

What You Will Do

• Own integrated program execution from planning through delivery, managing scope, schedules, milestones, dependencies, risks, actions, decisions, and commitments.
• Align customer requirements and contractual obligations with business priorities, operational capability, capacity, and available resources; make tradeoffs visible and drive timely resolution.
• Establish and operate program governance, including cross-functional operating cadences, customer and executive reviews, decision and escalation paths, action tracking, and performance reporting.
• Translate customer demand, forecasts, engineering changes, and program priorities into coordinated plans for delivery, quality, capacity, inventory, and responsiveness.
• Anticipate and mitigate program risks; lead structured recovery for delivery disruptions, quality events, engineering changes, capacity constraints, and other critical issues.
• Maintain the program management baseline and control system, including integrated plans, dashboards, risk and opportunity registers, action logs, decision records, and recovery plans.
• Partner with commercial and operational leaders on customer strategy, forecast quality, program launches, margin protection, change management, and growth opportunities.
• Use customer feedback, operational data, root cause analysis, and corrective action to eliminate recurring issues and improve the customer experience.
• Monitor program performance and communicate program health, outlook, risks, decisions, and recovery status to customers, cross-functional leaders, and executives.
• Promote accountability, role clarity, collaboration, and disciplined problem solving across matrixed teams while ensuring compliance with applicable contractual, regulatory, quality, export-control, security, and customer requirements.

What Success Looks Like

• Customer and business commitments are translated into realistic, executable plans with clear ownership, milestones, risks, and decision points.
• Program governance produces timely, fact-based visibility and enables issues and tradeoffs to be resolved at the appropriate level.
• Delivery, quality, responsiveness, forecast accuracy, escalation cycle time, and program financial performance improve against approved targets.
• Disruptions are contained quickly, corrective actions address root causes, and lessons learned reduce recurrence across programs.
• Customer relationships strengthen while decisions protect contractual commitments, compliance, profitability, and long-term business value.

Who You Are | Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in program management, project management, manufacturing, operations, engineering, quality, supply chain, aerospace, defense, or another complex customer-driven environment.
• 3+ years leading programs, projects, customer accounts, or matrixed teams with accountability for schedules, risks, decisions, commitments, and results.
• Demonstrated ability to integrate commercial, technical, and operational inputs into executable plans and drive performance without direct authority.
• Experience establishing governance, managing risk, leading escalations or recovery efforts, and communicating program performance to customers and senior leaders.
• Strong business acumen with demonstrated analytical, financial, problem-solving, decision-making, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, ERP/MRP systems, business intelligence tools, dashboards, and performance reporting.
• Ability to travel as required and satisfy applicable customer, facility, export-control, and security requirements.

What Will Put You Ahead

• Experience managing strategic customer programs or portfolios in aerospace, defense, space, or another highly regulated manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated success improving customer satisfaction, operational performance, revenue, margin, or working capital through cross-functional program leadership.
• Knowledge of AS9100, Nadcap, ITAR, and FAR/DFARS requirements.
• Experience with program launches, integrated planning, demand and capacity planning, configuration or change control, and manufacturing operations.
• Advanced capability in structured problem solving, root cause analysis, corrective and preventive action, and recovery planning.
• PMP, PgMP, Lean Six Sigma, APICS, MBA, or a comparable credential.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here .

Who We Are

Aerospace & Defense Solutions (ADS)

Molex's Aerospace & Defense Solutions (ADS) Division delivers mission-critical connectivity, signal technologies, and electronic solutions designed for the most demanding environments. Drawing on decades of engineering excellence and innovation, we support aerospace, defense, space, and other high-reliability markets where performance is essential and failure is not an option.

From enabling next-generation communications and data transfer to providing rugged interconnect and electronic solutions for mission-critical systems, our technologies help customers advance capabilities across air, land, sea, and space. At ADS, we combine deep technical expertise, operational excellence, and a culture of principled entrepreneurship to create value for our customers, communities, and one another.

Join us and help shape the future of aerospace and defense through innovation, reliability, and purpose-driven solutions.

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please click here for additional information. (For Illinois E-Verify information click here , aquí , or tu ).

In order to comply with U.S. export control laws and regulations, this position requires applicants to either provide proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent resident status or be eligible to receive an export authorization (a license) under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and/or the Export Administration Regulations.