Technical Program Manager
Tiberius Aerospace Inc.
Location: Orange County, California Team: Engineering / Program Management Commitment: Full-time Reports to: Shawn Gilmore Equity: Offered Pay range: $160K to $210K
About Tiberius Aerospace
Tiberius Aerospace builds next-generation weapon systems for the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies. We design, test and validate, then license production to qualified manufacturers and allied nations so they can build sovereign capacity. We call it Defense as a Service: tight hardware and software integration, fast iteration, and systems that keep improving after they’re fielded.
Our portfolio spans SCEPTRE, a ramjet-powered 155mm artillery round; INVICTUS, a ramjet strike missile; VAULT, a containerized launch system for ground, maritime and air platforms; and GRAIL, our AI platform connecting buyers, OEMs, suppliers and capital across the defense industrial base. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California.
Location
Based in Orange County, California, working closely with engineering, operations and leadership at Tiberius’s Newport Beach headquarters. Expect regular on-site collaboration and travel to company facilities, suppliers, manufacturing partners, customer locations and test ranges as program needs require.
Position Overview
We’re looking for a Technical Program Manager to lead the planning and execution of complex aerospace and defense development programs. You’ll turn technical objectives into executable plans and coordinate the people, resources, dependencies and decisions needed to deliver against them.
You’ll work across aerodynamics, propulsion, mechanical design, structural and thermal analysis, electrical hardware, embedded software, guidance, navigation and control, manufacturing and test. Your responsibility is to keep those disciplines aligned around clear requirements, credible schedules and measurable outcomes.
Candidates should bring experience in missile, missile-defense or closely related defense flight-hardware programs, with an understanding of the development, integration, qualification and production challenges these programs present.
This is a technically engaged execution role - not simply schedule administration. You’ll understand the engineering work well enough to identify dependencies, challenge assumptions, surface risks and help teams resolve obstacles before they become missed milestones.
Decision rights: You own integrated program planning, execution tracking, resource coordination, risk reporting and change-control coordination within delegated authority. The Chief Engineer and designated technical leads own technical architecture, design decisions and engineering acceptance. Contractual commitments, budget changes and scope changes outside delegated authority require appropriate approval.
What You’ll Do
- Build and maintain integrated program plans spanning requirements, design, procurement, integration, test and production transition.
- Translate program objectives into clear work packages, milestones, owners and deliverables.
- Coordinate multidisciplinary engineering teams and external partners.
- Identify critical-path activities, resource constraints and cross-functional dependencies.
- Manage program risks, issues and changes with clear ownership and follow-through.
- Partner with technical leadership to prepare for design reviews and test milestones.
- Track program budgets, forecasts and supplier commitments.
- Communicate program status, decisions and recovery plans to leadership and customers.
- Support manufacturing readiness and the transition to qualified production partners.
- Improve program-management practices without creating unnecessary administrative burden.
Core Responsibilities
Program Planning and Execution
- Develop integrated schedules that reflect the actual engineering work, procurement lead times and test requirements.
- Establish work breakdown structures, milestone definitions and completion criteria.
- Build plans with the engineers and functional leads responsible for delivering the work.
- Maintain visibility into the critical path and assess the impact of changes.
- Track deliverables and dependencies across internal teams, contractors and suppliers.
- Develop recovery options when progress or new information puts commitments at risk.
Technical Coordination
- Work with the Chief Engineer and discipline leads to align execution plans with technical maturity.
- Coordinate interfaces and handoffs across engineering, manufacturing, quality and test.
- Ensure technical decisions have clear owners, required inputs and decision dates.
- Identify unresolved requirements, assumptions and interface issues that could affect delivery.
- Facilitate cross-functional problem-solving while preserving technical decision authority.
- Ensure design changes are reflected in schedules, procurement plans and downstream activities.
Cost, Resources and Forecasting
- Develop and maintain program budgets and forecasts with finance and functional leadership.
- Track engineering effort, supplier costs, material commitments and anticipated spending.
- Identify resource gaps and coordinate staffing or external support.
- Assess the cost and schedule effects of proposed changes.
- Communicate emerging variances early and recommend corrective actions.
- Support estimates and planning assumptions for new phases or proposed work.
Risk, Issues and Change Management
- Maintain program risk and issue registers with owners, mitigation actions and closure criteria.
- Distinguish technical uncertainty from execution delays and address each appropriately.
- Identify long-lead items, single-source dependencies and external approval risks.
- Coordinate impact assessments for changes to requirements, scope, configuration or delivery plans.
- Escalate decisions at the right time with clear options and consequences.
- Track corrective actions through completion rather than stopping at status reporting.
Design Reviews, Integration and Test
- Coordinate planning and preparation for requirements, design, integration and readiness reviews.
- Ensure review materials, entry criteria, participants and action items are organized.
- Align hardware availability, software readiness, instrumentation, facilities and personnel for test activities.
- Work with technical and test leadership to identify prerequisites and unresolved constraints.
- Incorporate test findings and corrective actions into the execution plan.
- Maintain clear links between program milestones and the evidence required to complete them.
Suppliers and Manufacturing Partners
- Coordinate supplier deliverables, technical exchanges and delivery commitments.
- Work with supply chain and engineering to identify procurement risks early.
- Track long-lead components, tooling and external development activities.
- Support manufacturing-readiness planning and production-transition activities.
- Coordinate technical-data delivery, training and implementation milestones with qualified manufacturing partners.
- Ensure changes affecting suppliers are communicated and incorporated into approved plans.
Customer and Leadership Communication
- Provide concise reporting on cost, schedule, technical progress, risks and required decisions.
- Lead program execution meetings with clear agendas, owners and follow-up.
- Support customer reviews and maintain an accurate record of commitments.
- Explain variances and recovery plans without obscuring uncertainty.
- Coordinate with business development, contracts and leadership on proposed scope or delivery changes.
- Ensure external communications reflect approved technical and commercial positions.
Program Systems and Process Improvement
- Maintain a reliable source of program schedules, deliverables, decisions and action items.
- Establish practical reporting routines and clear milestone definitions.
- Use program-management tools to improve visibility rather than duplicate administrative work.
- Capture lessons learned and apply them to subsequent development phases.
- Strengthen coordination between engineering, operations and finance as Tiberius grows.
What You’ll Bring
- 7+ years of relevant aerospace or defense experience, including direct responsibility for technical program management or complex engineering execution.
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering required.
- Experience supporting missile, missile-defense or closely related defense flight-hardware programs.
- Demonstrated experience managing multidisciplinary hardware development through design, integration and test.
- Technical fluency sufficient to understand engineering dependencies, development risks and verification requirements.
- Experience building and maintaining integrated schedules, work breakdown structures and milestone plans.
- Experience managing budgets, resource plans, supplier commitments and program forecasts.
- A record of identifying delivery risks early and coordinating practical recovery plans.
- Experience working closely with chief engineers, technical leads and functional managers.
- Working knowledge of requirements management, configuration control and engineering change processes.
- Experience coordinating suppliers, contractors or manufacturing partners.
- Proficiency with scheduling, issue-tracking and reporting tools.
- Clear communication with engineers, executives, customers and external partners.
- Strong judgment, accountability and follow-through in a fast-moving environment.
Preferred
- Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Engineering Management or a related discipline.
- Experience with propulsion, guided munitions, interceptors, launch systems or related aerospace hardware.
- Experience supporting ground and flight-test campaigns.
- Experience transitioning development hardware into qualification or repeatable production.
- Familiarity with applicable defense development, environmental and qualification requirements.
- Experience with government customers, contract deliverables and formal program reviews.
- Familiarity with earned value management where required by the program or contract.
- Experience working with licensed manufacturing partners or distributed production teams.
- Proficiency with tools such as Microsoft Project, Primavera, Jira, Smartsheet or comparable systems.
- PMP certification or equivalent demonstrated program-management capability.
- Experience in a high-growth company with lean teams and broad ownership.
- Active U.S. government security clearance or willingness to undergo the clearance process if required for assigned programs.
What We’re Looking For
- A program owner who turns technical goals into credible execution plans.
- Someone who understands the engineering - not just the dates on the schedule.
- A clear communicator who surfaces problems early and brings options.
- A practical leader who creates accountability without unnecessary bureaucracy.
- Someone who distinguishes activity from completed, verified deliverables.
- Comfortable coordinating teams without relying solely on reporting authority.
- Mission first. Focused on delivering reliable capabilities while protecting technical integrity.
Growth Opportunity
You’ll help establish how Tiberius plans and executes complex development programs as the company grows. The role offers opportunities to take on larger programs, strengthen cross-functional execution and help shape the program-management organization.
How We Support You
- Competitive salary, annual bonus and equity
- Medical, dental and vision, fully employer-paid for you and your family
- Short- and long-term disability and life insurance, employer-paid
- HSA, FSA and dependent care FSA
- 401(k), standard and Roth
- Unlimited PTO, sick leave, paid holidays and paid parental leave
Equal Opportunity Employer
Tiberius Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other status protected by applicable law.
Applicants who require a reasonable accommodation during the application process may contact kburchstead@tiberius.com.
Tiberius Aerospace participates in E-Verify. This role may require U.S. person status under applicable export-control requirements. Additional eligibility requirements may apply to work requiring a U.S. government security clearance.
