Senior Program Manager, Products

Frontdoor Defense; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

CesiumAstro is seeking a Senior Program Manager, Products in Austin to drive large-scale programs from concept through execution. You will translate customer needs into executable plans, manage cross-functional teams, and coordinate with Product, Engineering, and Business Development to align strategy with delivery goals.

You will own baselines, make/buy decisions, and lead proposal development while ensuring alignment with the broader product roadmap and corporate strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree plus 12–15 years in program management or related field.
• Masters with 8–12 years or PhD with 5–8 years in program management or related disciplines.
• Experience building scope, cost, schedule, risk baselines for complex programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead program formation from pre-contract through transition to execution.
• Create executable baselines: scope, cost, schedule, staffing, risk.
• Translate architecture into development plans and milestones.
• Support product strategy and identify reusable capabilities.
• Drive proposal development with SOWs, schedules, costs, risks.
• Support contract definitization aligning scope with baselines.
• Coordinate Make/Buy and supplier planning activities.
• Ensure smooth readiness and transition into execution.
• Maintain alignment across Product, Engineering and I/S teams.
• Manage early execution milestones and risk resolution.
• Provide program assurance across technical and cost domains.

Skills

Program management

Cross-functional leadership

Stakeholder management

Proposal development

Risk management

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, business administration, program management, operations management, supply chain management, or a related field

Master’s degree (related field)

PhD (related field)

Job description

Senior Program Manager, Products

Develop and transition large-scale programs from pre-contract through execution across cross-functional teams

Location: Austin, Texas

About The Role

Senior Program Manager, Products

At CesiumAstro, we are developers and pioneers of out-of-the-box communication systems for satellites, UAVs, launch vehicles, and other space and airborne platforms. We take pride in our dynamic and cross-functional work environment, which allows us to learn, develop, and engage across our organization. If you are looking for hands-on, interactive, and autonomous work, CesiumAstro is the place for you. We are actively seeking passionate, collaborative, energetic, and forward-thinking individuals to join our team.

We are looking to add a Senior Program Manager, Products to our team. In this role, you will be responsible for transforming customer needs and solution architectures into well-defined, executable programs. Working within the Product Development & Assurance organization, the Senior Program Manager leads program formation from pre-contract solution development through proposal development, contract definitization, and transition to the execution team.

Partnering with Product, Technical Architects, Engineering, Business Development, Finance, Contracts, Supply Chain, and Program Management, the Senior Program Manager, Products translates the 'what' of the solution into the 'how' of execution. This includes establishing program scope and requirements, development plans, cost and schedule baselines, risks and opportunities, ground rules and assumptions, Make/Buy plans, and the overall program execution baseline.

This role also contributes to product strategy by identifying opportunities to leverage existing or in-development products, distinguishing reusable product capabilities from customer-specific development, and ensuring program decisions align with the company's broader product roadmap.

Job Duties And Responsibilities

• Lead program formation. Own the development of the program execution approach from initial solution architecture through proposal, contract award, and transition into execution.
• Establish executable program baselines. Develop integrated scope, requirements, cost, schedule, staffing, risk, and resource plans. Establish ground rules and assumptions and ensure the baseline is supported by the technical and business teams responsible for execution.
• Translate architecture into execution. Partner with Technical Architects and Engineering to translate solution architectures into development plans, work packages, milestones, deliverables, and integrated program schedules.
• Support product strategy and reuse. Evaluate opportunities to leverage existing and in-development products and identify where new reusable capabilities may be required versus customer-specific development. Provide program-level insight to Product leadership to inform roadmap and investment decisions.
• Drive proposal development. Provide the programmatic and execution content required for customer proposals, including Statements of Work, schedules, cost estimates, risks, assumptions, staffing plans, and execution approaches.
• Support contract definitization. Partner with Contracts and business leadership during customer negotiations to ensure scope, requirements, deliverables, schedule, assumptions, and contractual commitments are consistent with the planned execution baseline.
• Lead Make/Buy and supplier planning. Coordinate Make/Buy trades with Product, Engineering, and Supply Chain and establish supplier scope, requirements, cost, schedule, and assumptions required to support the program baseline.
• Own program readiness and transition. Ensure awarded programs transition into execution with a clear SOW, requirements baseline, budget, integrated schedule, risk register, supplier commitments, ground rules and assumptions, and Program Management Plan.
• Support early execution. Remain engaged with the execution Program Manager and Engineering team through transition and early program milestones, including SRR, to resolve gaps between the proposed, contracted, and executable baselines.
• Provide program assurance. Identify and drive resolution of technical, cost, schedule, contractual, and execution risks before they become downstream program issues. Ensure commitments made during capture and proposal are understood, achievable, and appropriately baselined.
• Integrate across functions. Serve as a central program integration point across Product, Engineering, Business Development, Finance, Contracts, Supply Chain, and execution teams to drive decisions and maintain alignment throughout program formation.

Job Requirements And Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business administration, program management, operations management, supply chain management, or a related field with 12–15 years of related experience, Master's degree with 8–12 years of related experience, or PhD with 5–8 years of related experience in program management, project management, engineering, manufacturing, operations, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience establishing and managing scope, requirements, cost, schedule, risk, and execution baselines for complex technical programs.
• Proficiency in supporting programs from pre-contract or proposal development through contract award and execution.
• Extensive experience collaborating with engineering, finance, contracts, supply chain, and customer-facing organizations to develop and execute integrated program plans.

CesiumAstro considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, education/training, and key skills. Full-time employment offers include company stock options and a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability and retirement plans.

CesiumAstro is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.