Program Analyst

Job Description

Job Description

The Program Analyst provides program controls, financial analysis, schedule analysis, forecasting, and performance reporting for a high-visibility, complex ~$350M aviation program supporting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Key Responsibilities

1. Program Financial Planning & Analysis

• Develop and maintain detailed program financial forecasts for revenue, cost, gross margin, cash flow, and expenditures.
• Analyze actual program performance against budget, baseline, forecast, and contractual objectives.
• Develop and maintain monthly ETC and EAC forecasts in coordination with the Program Manager and functional organizations.
• Perform cost, revenue, margin, and forecast variance analysis and identify significant trends or deviations.
• Identify potential cost overruns, margin erosion, funding concerns, and other emerging financial risks.
• Develop financial scenarios and impact assessments to support Program Manager decision-making.
• Support annual operating plan (AOP), budget, and long-range planning activities.

2. Cost & EAC Management

• Maintain detailed cost forecasts by workstream, CLIN, purchase order, subcontract, labor category, and major cost element.
• Reconcile actual costs, commitments, accruals, WIP, and forecasted expenditures.
• Monitor labor, material, supplier, production, equipment, travel, tariff, and other program costs.
• Analyze actual and projected expenditures against the approved program baseline.
• Identify cost trends and unfavorable variances before they materially affect program financial performance.
• Support development and tracking of financial recovery and corrective-action plans.

3. Schedule & Performance Analysis

• Support maintenance and analysis of the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS).
• Analyze critical path, schedule variance, milestone performance, dependencies, and forecast completion dates.
• Identify emerging schedule trends and potential impacts to contractual commitments.
• Integrate schedule and financial information to evaluate the cost, revenue, cash flow, and margin impact of schedule changes.
• Support schedule recovery planning and what-if analysis.
• Coordinate closely with the Project Coordinator to ensure execution status is accurately reflected in program schedules and forecasts.

4. Program Metrics & Executive Dashboards

• Develop and maintain integrated program dashboards and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• Provide objective reporting of:
• Revenue and revenue forecast
• Actual and forecast costs
• Gross margin
• ETC and EAC
• Cash flow
• Budget versus actual performance
• Schedule and milestone performance
• Risk and opportunity exposure
• Supplier performance
• Installation and deployment readiness
• Develop trend analyses that clearly identify changes in program performance over time.
• Ensure reported metrics are accurate, consistent, traceable, and supported by approved source data.
• Highlight exceptions and emerging issues requiring Program Manager or executive leadership attention.

5. Monthly Program Reviews & Financial Close

• Lead preparation of financial and analytical content for monthly program reviews.
• Reconcile program financial data with Finance prior to executive reporting.
• Support monthly financial close activities, including accruals, WIP, revenue recognition inputs, cost reconciliation, and forecast updates.
• Maintain historical program performance and forecast changes to provide month-over-month visibility.
• Develop concise executive-level analyses explaining significant cost, schedule, revenue, and margin variances.
• Support the Program Manager in preparation for executive and customer program reviews.

6. Risk & Opportunity Analysis

• Support maintenance of the program Risk and Opportunity Register.
• Quantify potential cost, schedule, revenue, and margin exposure associated with identified risks.
• Track mitigation actions and evaluate their effectiveness.
• Incorporate approved risks and opportunities into ETC/EAC and financial scenarios when appropriate.
• Perform sensitivity and what-if analyses to evaluate potential program outcomes.

7. Contract & Funding Analysis

• Monitor program funding, CLINs, contractual values, and financial performance against contractual requirements.
• Work with the Program Administrator and Contracts organization to ensure contract modifications, funding changes, and billing milestones are reflected in program forecasts.
• Analyze the financial impact of contract changes, customer requests, scope changes, and proposed modifications.
• Support change requests, proposals, and Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimates through cost and schedule analysis.
• Support subcontract financial analysis and evaluation of supplier cost impacts.

8. Cross-Functional Program Controls

• Partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Field Services, Contracts, Finance, and other functions to obtain accurate program inputs.
• Establish recurring processes and data requirements for program forecasting and reporting.
• Challenge incomplete or inconsistent program data and drive resolution with functional owners.
• Ensure assumptions used in forecasts are documented, supportable, and aligned with current execution plans.
• Provide analytical support for program recovery plans, resource decisions, supplier issues, and other major program decisions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Program Management, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 5 -7 years of aerospace experience in program controls, financial analysis, program finance, project controls, or a related role supporting complex programs.
• Demonstrated experience developing and maintaining program budgets, forecasts, ETCs, and EACs.
• Experience performing cost, schedule, revenue, margin, and variance analysis.
• Strong understanding of program financial concepts including revenue, cost, gross margin, accruals, commitments, WIP, cash flow, and forecasting.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and financial/data analysis.
• Experience developing management dashboards, KPIs, and executive-level program reporting.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate large amounts of financial and program data into actionable management information.
• Ability to work effectively across Finance, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Contracts, and Program Management organizations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to clearly communicate complex financial and program information.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP, FP&A, EVM, or related professional certification
• Experience supporting large-scale FAA, aerospace, defense, aviation, or U.S. Government programs.
• Experience with programs valued at $100M+ or similarly complex multi-year programs.
• Knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and government contracting environments.
• Experience with Earned Value Management (EVM) or similar program performance management methodologies.
• Experience with Integrated Master Schedules and schedule analysis.
• Experience with ERP and program financial systems such as MS Business Central, SAP, Oracle, Costpoint.
• Experience with Power BI or other business intelligence and visualization tools.