Director of Program Management

About Barber-Nichols:?

Barber-Nichols (BN) is a premier provider of custom turbomachinery solutions serving the Defense, Aerospace, Cryogenics, and Energy industries. Our team consists of industry leaders who collaborate closely with equally accomplished customers to deliver technologies that advance their markets and establish enduring partnerships. At BN, we foster a results-driven environment that values professional growth, rewards achievement, and supports innovation. From designing the blower for NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan to engineering critical components for the U.S. Navy’s MK-48 program, BN’s portfolio spans some of the most exciting and impactful projects in the world. For those seeking to contribute to impactful projects alongside a highly skilled team, BN offers an exceptional place to build your career.

Position Summary: 

The Director of Program Management provides executive leadership and oversight for complex, cross-functional Defense and Aerospace turbomachinery programs across the full product lifecycle—from technology development and prototyping through production, deployment, and aftermarket support within safety-critical or mission-critical applications. This role ensures compliant, efficient, and high-performing program execution within an engineering and manufacturing environment.

The Director integrates Barber-Nichols’ (BN) technical capabilities with evolving government, defense, and aerospace requirements, delivering programs that meet scope, schedule, cost, quality, and security expectations. This leader strengthens operational execution by improving processes, systems, and controls; drives alignment across engineering, operations, procurement, and quality; and builds high-performing, self-directed teams.

Key Results Areas:

1. Establish, implement, and communicate the cross-functional strategic and tactical plans for program execution to ensure on-time, on-budget, and on-quality performance.

a. Maintain an integrated view of portfolio performance, resource demand, contractual commitments, and emerging risks; recommend priorities and tradeoffs to executive and functional leadership when required.

b. Partner with Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, and Finance to ensure incorporate manufacturing readiness, supplier readiness, quality planning, cost maturity, test readiness, and production-capacity requirements early in the program lifecycle.

c. Establish and lead a tiered program governance model appropriate to program size, complexity, risk, customer importance, and lifecycle phase. Define review cadence, escalation thresholds, decision rights, and reporting expectations for each program tier.

d. Own and continuously improve the program management operating system, including program launch, work breakdown structures, integrated schedules, baseline management, financial forecasting, risk and opportunity management, change control, action management, program reviews, and program closeout.

e. Establish common data definitions, templates, controls, and performance dashboards that provide timely and reliable visibility into portfolio and individual program performance

2. Responsible for customer relationships, proactive client management and new opportunity      ideation in collaboration with internal teams.

a. Build enduring and trust-based relationships with key customers resulting in high satisfaction and repeat business.

b. Serve as executive escalation point for critical customer matters while developing Program Managers as the primary leaders of their assigned customer relationships.

c. Use independent judgment to balance BN interests with that of our customers.

d. Negotiate favorable outcomes to complex technical, contractual, schedule, and operational challenges.

3. Develop, lead, and mentor a highly engaged, self-directed team to maximize employee retention and customer satisfaction.

a. Continually improve the skills and capabilities of the Program Management team to maximize the value provided to the business and our clients.

b. Remove barriers to facilitate personal and program success for each team member.

c. Connect the values and passions of team members to the work and programs they lead.

d. Build an inclusive, accountable team culture that recognizes individual strengths, encourages constructive challenge, and supports professional development.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

Directly supervises employees in the Program Management Office. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, training, assigning work, setting expectations, evaluating performance, coaching, resolving conflicts, and developing team capability. Ensures consistent, fair, and values-driven leadership aligned with organizational policy.