Technical Program Manager

Hernshead Recruitment; Southern Pines (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Hernshead Recruitment in the United States seeks an experienced technical leader to drive execution across defense product development and production-support programs. This role sits at the intersection of engineering, business development, production, supply chain, quality, and leadership, bringing structure and visibility to fast-moving efforts without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.

The ideal candidate is an engineer who has moved into program leadership and is ready to own schedule, risk,

Qualifications

• Technical degree (Engineering or related discipline)
• 3+ years managing technical projects, engineering programs, hardware development efforts, or complex cross-functional initiatives
• Experience in defense, aerospace, robotics, electronics, or hardware product development
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate work across engineering and non-engineering teams
• Strong organizational skills managing multiple priorities, schedules, and stakeholders
• Clear communicator across technical and non-technical audiences
• Track record identifying risks, dependencies, and blockers, and driving them to resolution
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with incomplete information
• Strong ownership mindset, able to build structure where process is still maturing

Responsibilities

• Lead project kickoff activities in coordination with engineering, business development, production, and leadership
• Translate customer commitments and internal objectives into executable project plans
• Track schedules, milestones, risks, dependencies, deliverables, and action items across active engineering programs
• Coordinate cross-functional communication between engineering, production, supply chain, quality, and business stakeholders
• Identify resource conflicts, schedule risks, long-lead items, technical blockers, and decision points early
• Maintain project dashboards, status reports, risk registers, decision logs, and meeting notes
• Facilitate program reviews and ensure follow-up actions are assigned, tracked, and closed
• Develop lightweight program management practices, project templates, and kickoff processes
• Partner with engineering leadership to prioritize work and protect teams from uncontrolled scope growth
• Support proposal planning, customer updates, and internal leadership briefings

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication

Organizational skills

Ownership mindset

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

Microsoft 365

Teams

Planner

Project

Jira

Smartsheet

Job description

This is an opportunity for an experienced technical leader to drive execution across a defense company's most complex product development and production-support programs. Sitting at the intersection of engineering, business development, production, supply chain, quality, and leadership, this role brings structure and visibility to fast-moving technical efforts without adding unnecessary bureaucracy. The ideal candidate is an engineer who has moved into program leadership and is ready to own schedule, risk, and cross-functional coordination on programs that matter to national defense customers.

Job Responsibilities:

• Lead project kickoff activities in coordination with engineering, business development, production, and leadership
• Translate customer commitments and internal objectives into executable project plans
• Track schedules, milestones, risks, dependencies, deliverables, and action items across active engineering programs
• Coordinate cross-functional communication between engineering, production, supply chain, quality, and business stakeholders
• Identify resource conflicts, schedule risks, long-lead items, technical blockers, and decision points early
• Maintain project dashboards, status reports, risk registers, decision logs, and meeting notes
• Facilitate program reviews and ensure follow-up actions are assigned, tracked, and closed
• Develop lightweight program management practices, project templates, and kickoff processes
• Partner with engineering leadership to prioritize work and protect teams from uncontrolled scope growth
• Support proposal planning, customer updates, and internal leadership briefings

Experience Required:

• Technical degree (Engineering or related discipline) or equivalent hands-on engineering background
• 3+ years managing technical projects, engineering programs, hardware development efforts, or complex cross-functional initiatives
• Experience in defense, aerospace, robotics, electronics, or hardware product development
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate work across engineering and non-engineering teams
• Strong organizational skills managing multiple priorities, schedules, and stakeholders
• Clear communicator across technical and non-technical audiences
• Track record identifying risks, dependencies, and blockers, and driving them to resolution
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment with incomplete information
• Strong ownership mindset, able to build structure where process is still maturing
• Preferred: experience supporting both development and production-transition efforts
• Preferred: familiarity with requirements tracking, design reviews, ECO processes, configuration management, or production readiness reviews
• Preferred: Microsoft 365, Teams, Planner, Project, Jira, or Smartsheet
• Preferred: experience in a small or rapidly growing engineering organization
• Preferred: PMP, DAWIA, Agile, or similar certification