Program Manager

About the Role

AVIAN is seeking a Program Manager to lead execution of the Test and Evaluation Management of Programs and Operations (TEMPO) contract. This Director-level leader will oversee AVIAN’s Contract Support Services (CSS) workforce, including AVIAN employees and assigned subcontractor personnel, supporting TEMPO Government leadership and end-customer program offices.

The Program Manager will be accountable for delivery performance, workforce continuity, customer confidence, financial stewardship, subcontractor coordination, risk management, and contract-growth support. This is a high-visibility leadership role for someone who can build a high-performing team, anticipate customer needs, resolve issues early, and deliver results in a complex DoD environment.

Join a Company Where You Can Make a Real Impact – and Own a Piece of the Future

Are you energized by the idea of helping a company grow smarter, serve our customers better, and connect more deeply? Do you thrive in an environment where your ideas matter, your voice is heard, and your work drives real results? If so, we’d love to meet you.

We’re a mid-sized, employee-owned company on a mission to create meaningful value for both our employees and our customers. That means we’re not just looking for someone to fill a seat — we’re looking for someone who wants to build, innovate, and evolve with us.

Our company primarily serves the Navy and other Department of Defense clients, offering a dynamic environment where your expertise will make a difference.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead TEMPO program delivery, ensuring responsive, high-quality support consistent with authorized contract requirements, funding, labor categories, security requirements, quality standards, and AVIAN policies.
• Lead, develop, and retain AVIAN’s TEMPO CSS workforce; establish clear expectations; manage performance; support career development; and sustain an engaged employee-owner culture. Develop Team Leads (TLs) and emerging leaders, establish clear accountability and decision authorities, and build succession coverage for mission-critical roles.
• Serve as AVIAN’s senior operational representative to TEMPO Government leadership, the Government Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), supported end-customer program offices, subcontractor leaders, and other authorized stakeholders.
• Build trusted customer and partner relationships through AVIAN’s Principles and Promises: being resourceful in solving problems, responsive in communication and follow-through, and reachable when customers, employees, and partners need support, information, or decisions. Use customer feedback and program insight to anticipate needs, reduce recurring friction, and strengthen customer confidence.
• Anticipate workforce requirements, staffing gaps, changing priorities, and emerging mission needs; develop and execute workforce plans that maintain qualified, cleared, and appropriately aligned support.
• Ensure AVIAN employees and assigned subcontractor personnel complete required contract, security, and role-specific training and understand the expectations of their assigned positions.
• Serve as the hiring manager for AVIAN TEMPO positions, including defining requirements, interviewing and selecting candidates, incorporating appropriate customer feedback, and driving timely onboarding and placement.
• Coordinate subcontractor staffing, performance, quality, workshare, and issue resolution in partnership with AVIAN Contracts and other functional leaders.
• Own required Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) deliverables, including Monthly Status Reports (MSRs), and ensure customer communications are accurate, timely, action-oriented, and appropriately coordinated.
• Manage program performance across staffing, deliverables, customer satisfaction, financial results, funding, labor utilization, subcontractor costs, forecasts, invoicing support, performance risks, and corrective actions.
• Lead cross-functional teams to resolve complex staffing, delivery, technical, financial, subcontractor, and customer issues; anticipate risks, align resources, and implement corrective actions that produce sustained, measurable improvement.
• Partner with Contracts, Project Controls, Accounting and Finance, Human Resources, Security, Quality, Talent Acquisition, and TFS leadership to resolve issues, maintain compliance, and make sound program decisions.
• Provide concise status, financial outlook, key risks, corrective actions, and decision recommendations to TFS and AVIAN leadership. Exercise substantial independent judgment within delegated authority and escalate material risks early with clear options and recommended actions.
• Support approved business-development, capture, proposal, past-performance, and recompete efforts while protecting TEMPO delivery commitments and customer support.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, or a technical discipline, with at least four years of management experience.
• Active U.S. DoD Secret security clearance, with the ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret eligibility as required for the position.
• Demonstrated experience with direct accountability for leading complex DoD services programs or comparable contract-delivery operations, including contract execution, customer engagement, subcontractor coordination, financial stewardship, risk management, and deliverable compliance.
• Demonstrated direct supervisory leadership experience, including performance management, employee engagement, coaching, development, retention, effective delegation, and building a resilient leadership bench with continuity for critical roles.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead cross-functional teams; analyze complex delivery, workforce, financial, and customer issues; communicate clear, decision-ready recommendations to senior stakeholders; and drive measurable operational improvement.
• Experience working in DoD or Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) environments, including Government stakeholder coordination and contract-deliverable compliance.

Desired Qualifications

• Prior Program Manager experience leading a complex DoD services contract, preferably within a Navy, Naval Aviation, test-and-evaluation, or flight-support environment.
• Active U.S. DoD Top Secret security clearance.
• Experience supporting Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Naval Test Wing Atlantic (NTWL), TEMPO, or related Navy acquisition and test-and-evaluation organizations.
• Experience as a hiring manager, including defining position requirements, interviewing and selecting candidates, incorporating appropriate customer feedback, and driving timely onboarding and placement.
• Experience managing contract financial performance, including funding, labor utilization and labor mix, direct-labor and subcontractor costs, forecasting, invoice support, and actions to improve program performance.
• Experience with Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) documentation, self-assessments, or evaluation processes.
• Experience supporting capture, proposal, past-performance, or recompete efforts for DoD professional-services contracts.

Due to the sensitivity of customer-related requirements, U.S. Citizenship is required.

Salary range: $125,000 - $150,000 (The offered rate will be based on the selected candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and/or experience and in consideration of internal parity.) 

About being a part of Team AVIAN

As an employee-owner, you’ll be a catalyst for progress — helping us find new opportunities with current or new customers, company efficiencies, streamline processes, and bring people and ideas together in smarter ways. Whether it’s helping us optimize workflows, enhancing the employee experience, or delivering more impactful solutions to our customers, your inputs will have reach and relevance across the organization.

Taking care of each other is a cornerstone of our AVIAN philosophy. Being part of the AVIAN team means being part of a team that takes pride in being expansive in our community because our impact doesn’t stop in the workplace. We actively engage in community initiatives, empowering our employees to make a meaningful difference.

You’ll Succeed Here If You...

• See opportunities where others see routine
• Are curious, collaborative, and passionate about making things better
• Enjoy connecting dots across teams, tools, and tasks
• Believe in doing the right thing the right way — even when no one’s watching
• Play an active role in our growth, using your ideas and initiative to shape how we work, serve, and succeed together
• Embrace a “one team” mindset knowing we are stronger together through trust, transparency and teamwork.
• Understand the power of ownership — and are excited to be part of an employee-owned culture

Why Join Us?

• Employee Ownership: We’re not just building a company — we’re building a legacy. As an employee-owner, you’ll share in our success and have a direct stake in our future.
• Real Growth: We’re expanding, evolving, and exploring new ways to serve. Your contributions will shape our direction and help us grow stronger.
• Purpose-Driven Work: Every improvement you help make is one that adds value — not just for us, but for the people and missions we support.
• Culture of Collaboration: We’re big enough to take on meaningful challenges, but small enough that everyone still knows your name.
• Comprehensive Benefits Package: Designed to support your health, financial security, and overall well-being, our health and wellness benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage, along with telemedicine services and a TRICARE supplement for veterans.
• Flexible Leave Benefits: we prioritize a balanced, supportive environment that allows you to thrive both personally and professionally and offer flexible and paid time off, 11 paid holidays, paid sick leave, maternity and bonding leave, and military training leave.

AVIAN is a service-based organization. As an equal opportunity employer, our policy of business is to seek the most qualified candidate for each talent opportunity without regard to race, creed, color, sex, age, religious belief, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sexual preference, physical or mental handicap, lawful political affiliation or veteran’s status.