Senior Program Manager Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Who is Senior plc?

Senior plc is an international, market-leading, engineering solutions provider with 19 operating businesses in 11 countries. Traded on the London Stock Exchange, Senior designs and manufactures high-technology components and systems for the worldwide aerospace, defense, land vehicle and power & energy markets.

Senior Aerospace SSP, a division of Senior plc, is the world's largest aerospace high-pressure ducting system supplier. Starting as 'Stainless Steel Products' in 1945, and acquired by Senior plc in 1995, we are vertically integrated with our own foundry, fabrication shop, and ISO-certified engineering lab, allowing us to design, manufacture, and qualify complex ducting systems for space launch, defense, and commercial aerospace applications worldwide.

Why join SSP?

Senior Aerospace SSP is the recognized global leader in high-pressure bleed air ducting systems. We provide "total resource" system solutions for complex ducting requirements, with our components found on most aircraft operating worldwide.

We are committed to the highest standards of ethics, safety, quality, efficiency, and continuous improvement. At SSP, we believe in building strong relationships with our customers, suppliers, and most importantly, our employees. We foster a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive environment with ample opportunities for professional growth. Join us and find your future in a company that values innovation and integrity.

Summary: The Senior Program Manager will manage and improve new and existing programs through excellent leadership, process improvement, and outstanding customer relations. This is a position that will assist in continuous improvement activities with the goal of achieving a robust program management process to meet the needs and demands of system level projects. The right candidate will be a visible, key contributor to the future success of the organization who will train ITP team leaders in program management while leading the execution of programs.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Under minimal supervision, must be able to perform a variety of job duties including, but not limited to:

• Responsible for the successful launch and / or execution of new programs. Meet cost, schedule, and technical goals through the product design, development, and qualification phases and into stable full-rate production.
• Lead integrated product teams by providing input and direction from the program management plan and ensure all phases of the plan are successfully executed.
• Ensure programs remain on track in areas of schedule, cost, program objectives, required documentation, engineering progress, scope, and contractual changes, as well as risk assessment and mitigation plans.
• Take proactive action to resolve issues impacting the programs.
• Act as the focal point for the customer relationship and maintain customer satisfaction while managing the program within the scope of the contract.
• Follow all Senior PLC policies and procedures.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES: To achieve the mission for this position, the Senior Program Manager must produce the following critical actions and results:

1. New Program Execution:  Senior Aerospace SSP is experiencing significant growth in design to spec. systems development. These are complex programs that require the coordination of design engineering, customer program level and technical personnel, procurement activities, development and test personnel, manufacturing groups, and more. The resulting systems are comprised of numerous components, all of which must meet aggressive goals for cost, quality, and timely delivery. The Senior Program Manager will direct the completion of new programs that achieve budget and schedule requirements. The execution of new programs requires the following:   
   1. Manage to a Product Development Process (PDP) to reduce time and cost to market.
      1. Create and manage new programs following the phase gate process.
      2. Proactively anticipate problems utilizing risk analysis to plan for and mitigate those risks.
   2. Manage existing / snew programs with weekly and monthly meetings to discuss program progress, schedule, and budget. 
   3. Maintain constant awareness of program objectives, plans, schedules, upcoming events, risks, issues, changes and change-control, and current performance status through EVMS processes.
   4. Ensure that program plans are realistic rather than optimistic and are appropriately responsive to schedule changes. Ensure that team members can articulate an appropriate rationale for program decisions and changes that impact schedules.
   5. Collaborate with the finance team in developing program budgets and tracking performance for both internally funded and customer funded programs. Ensure that milestones are met, invoiced, and collected per schedule.
2. Train IPT Leaders: The Senior Program Manager must provide leadership and improve team performance. All IPT Leaders must be able to work successfully within the phase gate process mentioned above. This will include maintaining transparency to management and the organization on the progress / performance of programs. The Senior Program Manager will utilize metrics to achieve continuous improvement in the following areas:
   1. Conduct weekly and monthly program reviews that include program metrics, such as estimate to completion (ETC) and identified program issues & risks.
   2. Improve on-time and on-budget delivery by successfully managing to the phase gate process. 
   3. Reduce cycle time by streamlining processes, eliminating tasks, and working with manufacturing and engineering groups to arrive at more efficient solutions.
   4. Mentor team leaders on interacting with management, interfacing with customers, and defining key issues. 
3. Customer Relations: The Senior Program Manager will exhibit responsiveness and a proactive approach to communication that will result in excellent customer relations. This involves:
   1. Communicating with the customer about the status of the program, schedule / budget issues, and providing a quick response to customer questions or feedback.
   2. Preventing "scope creep" by creating and fully understanding accurate proposals and estimates that encompass all the customer's RFQs. Any issues will be brought to the customers' attention in a timely manner.   
   3. Supporting negotiations of proposals, contracts, and terms and conditions by providing recommendations to management and customers.
   4. Defining the voice of the customer and determining how to meet their requirements.
   5. Utilizing good judgment and proactive thinking to improve team performance, anticipate problems before they occur, take corrective action, and demonstrate a high level of task management.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: The success of the Senior Program Manager in achieving the objectives described above will be measured by the following:

• Execution of programs to budget and schedule.
• Customer feedback and questions are responded to in a timely manner.
• Decreased time needed for program execution.
• Effective execution to the phase gate process.
• Prevention and / or mitigation of scope creep issues.
• IPT team leaders have been mentored on the phase gate program process.
• Organizational visibility of program, progress, risk, and performance.

In addition to the above, Senior Program Managers are to maintain an organized, clean, and safe work area using safety standards and expectations while adhering to all quality practices. Senior is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in engineering (mechanical engineering preferred) or business administration (Finance/Marketing). MBA is a plus. Minimum seven years' experience with progressive responsibility leading to Program Management.
• Formal training in Program Management preferred (Phase Gate, QFD (Quality Function Deployment), LEAN, Six Sigma). Aerospace experience supplying to primes and tier 1 is highly desirable. Experience working with metal fabrication preferred including joining, welding, and brazing of sheet metal and related components. Familiarity with CNC machining including turning, milling, laser, water jet, press brake, tube bending, drop hammer forming, chemical processes, welding and heat treatment for annealing and hardening is desired. Previous experience with exotic metals including titanium, stainless steel alloys, Inconel, aluminum, and nickel is desired. Candidate will have previous working knowledge and / or direct experience in principles of Lean Manufacturing and 5S concepts. Customer focused. Cost and schedule focused.

Annual Target Salary = $140K - $155K

Monday - Friday       8:00am  - 5:00pm

Joining our team will provide you with a rewarding career with a tight-knit and collaborative team. You will also enjoy a competitive compensation package that includes a market-led base salary, comprehensive benefits package along with wellness benefits, matching 401K plan and paid time off. Apply today for an opportunity to join our team!

Trade Compliance Statement Access to our facilities is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to U.S. Persons (U.S. Citizens, lawful permanent residents, U.S. Nationals, U.S. refugees, asylees, or temporary residents under amnesty provisions ), and to properly licensed foreign persons. Applicants receiving a conditional offer of employment will be required to provide information to determine whether they are subject to these regulations and, if so, to assess their country of chargeability for export control purposes. Additionally, potential employee names will be screened against the Consolidated Screening List (maintained by the United States government) to determine eligibility to receive controlled technical data.

To ensure there is no unexpected delay to your start date with our Company and due to the potential need to obtain an export license, we would like to promptly assess whether such a license is needed to access our facility and/or systems.  Such licenses can take several weeks/months to obtain from the U.S. Government. Our Trade Compliance department may reach out to you with a Licensing Assessment form, which we request you kindly complete and return as soon as possible.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. EOE M/F/D/V/VEVRAA Federal Contractor