Deputy Program Manager

Deputy Program Manager

Step into a mission-driven leadership role where technical excellence meets strategic execution. As the Deputy Program Manager, you'll partner with the Program Manager to drive the success of complex, engineering-focused programs that directly support critical customer missions. This role is central to orchestrating cross-functional teams, ensuring technical rigor, managing risk, and delivering high-performance results across cost, schedule, and quality. You'll serve as a trusted leader and integrator — translating technical insights into actionable plans, aligning diverse teams, and keeping programs on track in fast-moving, high-visibility environments. If you thrive at the intersection of engineering, operations, and program leadership, this is where you can make a measurable impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day program operations and ensure seamless alignment with strategic objectives.
• Partner with engineering, technical, and operational teams to deliver fully integrated solutions.
• Monitor program performance across cost, schedule, and technical baselines; drive corrective actions when needed.
• Support the development and execution of program plans, schedules, budgets, and performance metrics.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate risks while maintaining robust risk registers and mitigation strategies.
• Serve as a communication hub between customers, leadership, and technical teams, ensuring clarity and alignment.
• Ensure compliance with contractual requirements, organizational policies, and quality standards.
• Contribute to proposal development, including technical inputs, staffing strategies, and cost estimates.
• Develop Statements of Work (SOWs) and documentation to guide and evaluate subcontractor performance.
• Collaborate with operations, finance, and contracts/subcontracts teams to manage a large CPFF contract effectively.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
• 8+ years of program or project management experience in a technical or engineering environment.
• Proven success supporting or managing complex, multi-disciplinary programs.
• Strong understanding of engineering lifecycle processes (systems engineering, software development, hardware integration).
• Demonstrated ability to manage cost, schedule, and performance in dynamic environments.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP certification or equivalent.
• Leadership experience managing geographically dispersed teams of 20+ personnel.
• Experience supporting complex defense programs, particularly with the U.S. Air Force.
• Familiarity with Agile, DevSecOps, or systems engineering frameworks.
• Strong problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills with the ability to tailor messaging to diverse audiences.

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.