Program Operations Manager

About the company

Our client is a technology and national security services company.

The role

Raydar is recruiting for this role on behalf of our client. Act as the accountable program owner for customer engagements, partnering with a technical lead and a team of engineers. Convert unclear customer needs into prioritized work plans and manage people through demanding, time-sensitive projects. Serve as the main connection between government stakeholders and the delivery team.

What you'll do

- Take full responsibility for customer engagements from kickoff to completion as the program owner, working alongside a technical lead and engineers.

- Develop a first-hand understanding of how customers actually operate by spending time with their data and their users, instead of relying only on written documentation.

- Turn customer goals into clearly scoped and ranked work, separating real mission needs from noise and personal preferences.

- Communicate between government customers and engineers so that everyone understands what must be delivered.

- Remove obstacles quickly and adjust course when results show the current plan is not working.

- Build lasting working relationships with end users, program leaders, technical contacts and contracting staff.

- Pass field insights back to product and engineering groups to guide future development and delivery methods.

- Lead and manage internal and external teams, with room to grow your own organization over time.

Requirements

What we're looking for

- At least 4 years running complex technical programs or deployments from start to finish in a national security setting.

- A track record of being answerable for real results rather than only hitting timelines.

- Prior experience directly managing or leading people.

- Comfort collaborating with government clients in classified environments.

- Ability to shape vague requirements into well-defined, prioritized engineering tasks.

- Confidence guiding teams through pressured, quickly changing situations.

- Active Secret clearance at time of hire.

- Legal authorization to work in the United States.

- Residence within commuting distance of the Washington, D.C. area.

- Willingness to travel up to 40% of the time.

Bonus points

- TS/SCI clearance.

- Experience delivering work for government or national security clients.

- Previous forward deployed, deployment strategy or customer mission success role at a technology company.

- Prior military or government service.

- An existing professional network in the industry.

- Hands-on experience with enterprise data platforms.

Benefits

Compensation and benefits

- Base salary: USD 150,000 to 185,000 per year

- Annual bonus

- Health, dental and vision coverage

- Life and disability insurance

- Retirement plan

- Paid time off and paid holidays

- Professional development opportunities

Location and work model

- Washington, D.C., United States

- Hybrid, in the office approximately 2-3 times per month

- Up to 40% travel

- Full-time