Senior Program Manager

At Leidos, we deliver innovative solutions through the efforts of our diverse and talented people who are dedicated to our customers’ success. We empower our teams, contribute to our communities, and operate sustainable. Everything we do is built on a commitment to do the right thing for our customers, our people, and our community. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business.

Your greatest work is ahead!

Leidos’ Defense Sector - Advanced Materials & Test Division is seeking a Senior Program Manager to join our team of talented scientists, engineers, and program staff focused on advancing Hypersonic Systems and implementing defense solutions that are enabled by the application of materials in extreme environments.

Leidos Defense Sector provides a diverse portfolio of systems, solutions, and services covering land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide. Solutions for Defense include enterprise and mission IT, large-scale intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. Our team is solving the world’s toughest security challenges for customers with “can’t fail” missions. To explore and learn more, click here!

Primary Responsibilities

As a Senior Program Manager, the individual will lead a program team involved with advanced manufacturing of missile systems and test platform components. The position will have responsibility for planning, tracking, and execution of complex tasking within technical, schedule, and budget constraints. The Senior Program Manager will be the primary interface with the customer and will also be responsible for customer relationships.  Additionally, the Senior Program Manager will be a critical member of proposal teams responsible for follow-on business and on contract growth.

• Communicate regularly with government and prime customers and other external stakeholders participating in nation-wide team to build and maintain strong relationships founded on trust, transparency, and collaboration.  Such communications include regular status updates as well as growth and strategy collaborations.  These interactions include one-on-one interactions with senior leadership to large formal program management reviews with participants from the broad national team.
• Through clear, frequent and compelling communication, set expectations and guide the direction of work of the internal team.
• Develop and implement execution and growth strategies for the program, leveraging the best available resources.
• Work with program team leads and Division leaders to develop staffing plans to execute the needed work
• Work with program team leads, program finance analysts, and Division leaders to develop financial budgets, metrics and targets to successfully execute the required work.  This must be done on a recurrent basis as the program evolves.
• Work with customers, collaborators, vendors, program team leads, matrixed scheduling staff, and Division leaders to develop detailed schedules to successfully execute the required work.  This must be done on a recurrent basis as the program evolves.
• Provide regular, detailed, internal reporting in the form of Monthly Reports, Integrated Program Reviews, weekly status reports, etc. as required.
• Communicate frequently with Division leaders to maintain their awareness of program needs and performance expectations and seek resources or guidance to best achieve optimal program performance.
• Leveraging all available resources and collaborating with program staff, Division leaders, customers, team-members and stakeholders, work to aggressively mitigate all risks to consistent, on-time, on-cost, successful program execution.
• Travel (up to 25%) for test events and technical interchange meetings to various test locations or collaborator performance sites.

Basic Qualifications. 

• Active DOD clearance at the SECRET level or higher
• Bachelors Degree in science or engineering
• BA degree with 15+ years of prior relevant experience or Masters with 13+ years of prior relevant experience.
• Prior experience in a program management or deputy program management role for a program with more than $30M in annual value.
• Prior experience leading programs or tasks involving the development, prototyping, or launching of flight vehicles for Department of War applications

Preferred Qualifications.

• Experience leading programs or tasks focused on flight testing missiles, rockets, or similar flight vehicles at government test ranges.
• Advanced degree in business, science, or engineering
• Strong understanding of hardware development, manufacturing, procurement, production, and integration in an AS9100 environment
• Working knowledge of missile systems
• Proven experience developing, maintaining, and managing to detailed program schedules, leveraging matrixed scheduling staff
• Proven experience developing, maintaining, and managing to detailed financial plans, leveraging matrixed program finance staff
• Proven experience leading through dynamic, program start-up or substantial program growth phases
• Proven experience communicating with senior company leadership regarding program status as well as expectation management and strategy shaping.
• Proven experience growing and maintaining solid customer and external stakeholder relationships based on trust, transparency, and demonstrated results
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a highly dynamic program environment with shifting priorities, requirements, and funding allocations.
• Consistent track record of achieving success through communication, transparency, and collaboration
• Demonstrated willingness and ability to be flexible and learn on the job from colleagues in new environments or when encountering new circumstances or requirements.

AppKinetic

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

August 28, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $139,100.00 - $251,450.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.