Sr. Program Director

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems; Poway (CA); On-site; USD 174,000 - 324,000; Full time

Job summary

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) invites applications for a Senior Program Director, MQ-9 Global Sustainment. This role oversees cross-functional teams delivering MQ-9 products, training devices, and services for U.S. Government and international customers.

The Senior Director leads program sustainment, training devices, and shared engineering support across MQ-9A/B fleets, coordinating with executive leadership and customers to ensure on-time, within-budget performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business administration or related discipline.
• Fifteen or more years of program management experience with senior leadership roles.
• Strong understanding of FAR, DCMA oversight, and acquisition processes.

Responsibilities

• Oversee MQ-9 global sustainment and training policies and practices.
• Lead development, fielding, and sustainment of MQ-9 training devices and solutions across U.S. and international customers.
• Direct the Program Sustainment Services Center and other shared-support functions for MQ-9A/B customers.
• Provide leadership in planning, recruitment, hiring, training, and career development of staff.
• Set vision and priorities for MQ-9 sustainment and training portfolios across dispersed teams.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to prioritize tasks and resolve resource conflicts.

Skills

Program management

Leadership

Budget management

Decision-making

Communication

Travel readiness

Executive liaison

Education

Bachelor's degree in business administration or related discipline

Job description

Job Summary

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a world leader in proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft and tactical reconnaissance radars, as well as advanced high-resolution surveillance systems.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Program Director, MQ-9 Global Sustainment! This position is responsible for overseeing cross‑functional efforts focused on the delivery and sustainment of MQ-9 products, solutions, training devices, and services for U.S. Government and international customers, and for ensuring supporting internal processes, tools, and business systems enable effective execution. This includes direction of teams providing logistics/sustainment program management, training system development, technical publications integration, and shared engineering and software support across MQ-9A and MQ-9B customer fleets.

The role supports multiple customers including, but not limited to, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Taiwan, Japan Coast Guard, India, Poland, Canada, USAF, USN, and USMC, and will support any future MQ-9B sustainment/training customers.

Senior Director Responsibilities

The Senior Director oversees major product lines such as:

• Sky Guardian Support Solution (SGSS) – the MQ-9B shared sustainment construct
• SkyGuardian Mission Trainer and SkyGuardian Mission Trainer (+)
• Predator Mission Trainer and Predator Mission Trainer (+)
• Virtual Maintenance Training
• Program Sustainment Services (PSS) Center – executing shared engineering, technical publications, program management, and software maintenance across MQ-9B and MQ-9A customers

The directorate’s program managers and staff currently execute over 300M USD annually in customer programs and approximately 3M USD per year in internal research and development (IRAD) programs.

The Senior Director consistently demonstrates strong leadership, critical thinking, and sound judgment, making decisions with consideration for the implication and effect on other functions, programs, the Company, and Customers. The role ensures that policies and procedures align with corporate vision and MQ-9 product line strategies, and consistently demonstrates good judgment in all forms of communication, ensuring timely, clear, accurate, and respectful messaging to executive leadership, customers, and internal stakeholders. The position exerts influence across P&Ls and functional organizations and serves as a key interface to executive leadership on matters of MQ-9 sustainment and training.

Essential Functions

• Oversees MQ-9 global sustainment and training policies, procedures, and practices, including logistics/sustainment program management, technical publications integration, and training product development, ensuring company and customer objectives are met.
• Leads the development, fielding, and sustainment of MQ-9 training devices and solutions (flight simulators, par‑task trainers, virtual reality applications) and associated systems and processes across multiple U.S. and international customers.
• Directs the Program Sustainment Services (PSS) Center and other shared‑support functions providing engineering, technical publications, program management, and software maintenance for MQ-9A and MQ-9B customers, ensuring consistent, reliable, and timely support and deliverables.
• Provides leadership and excellence by overseeing the planning, recruiting, hiring, training, retention, and career development of logistics/sustainment program managers and other staff. These program managers are matrixed to multiple profit‑and‑loss (P&L) organizations for program execution.
• Sets vision, direction, and priorities for the MQ‑9 sustainment and training portfolio, aligning team objectives with corporate and P&L strategies and driving a high‑performance, collaborative culture across geographically dispersed teams.
• Coordinates departmental and cross‑functional teams to assign and prioritize tasks focused on delivering new or upgraded products and services, resolving resource conflicts, and balancing competing priorities across product lines and customers.
• Develops and delivers executive‑level reports, proposals, requirements documentation, and presentations; leads and supports DCS (Direct Commercial Sales) and FMS (Foreign Military Sales) proposal development for international MQ‑9 customers, including management of proposal efforts.
• Assesses project and program issues and provides decisions and solutions to meet productivity, quality, cost, schedule, and customer satisfaction goals and objectives across the MQ‑9 sustainment and training portfolio.
• Ensures compliance with applicable laws, regulations, environmental requirements, and company policies; promotes safe work practices and maintains the strict confidentiality of sensitive information.
• Other duties as assigned or required.

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 bachelor’s degree in business administration, or related discipline, and fifteen or more years of progressively complex experience in the program management field, with at least eleven of those years in senior management positions. May substitute equivalent experience in lieu of education.
• Must demonstrate an extensive understanding of program/portfolio management processes and procedures, planning and scheduling methods, and budget management, as well as the ability to organize, schedule, and coordinate workloads to meet established milestones and budgets.
• Must possess:
  • The ability to initiate, plan, and manage projects and programs.
  • The ability to identify issues, analyze and interpret data, and develop solutions to a variety of non‑routine matters of diverse scope and nature.
  • Strong analytical, communication, documentation, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
  • The ability to work independently and lead as an executive in a team environment.
• Must be able to resolve complex management and technical problems using innovative and practical solutions and serve as a spokesperson for MQ-9 sustainment and training programs with internal and external stakeholders.
• Must have experience in leading projects which provided aircraft fleet sustainment/logistics support.
• Must have proposal experience; management of proposal effort is highly desirable.
• Experience with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) program oversight, and company internal process controls.
• Must be able to work extended hours and travel domestically and internationally as required to support MQ-9 customer programs and internal business needs.

Job Type: Full-Time Salary

Salary range: 174,010 - 324,040