Program Director

Deputy Program Director

The Deputy Program Director supports the Program Director in leading a complex C5ISR program portfolio valued at $131M annually, with direct management responsibility for approximately 370 employees across seven major programs. In addition, this role serves as deputy to the broader C5ISR enterprise of roughly 970 employees, helping ensure strategic alignment, unified execution, and a strong organizational culture across all CONUS and OCONUS locations. This position supports execution across programs involving systems engineering, system integration, test and evaluation, system delivery, and field services, and provides leadership engagement at multiple operating sites, including Lexington Park, MD, which has 72 assigned employees.

Key Responsibilities

• Support leadership across project, engineering, logistics, production, and quality teams, ensuring aligned priorities and effective execution across complex program areas.
• Lead a directly managed workforce of ~370 employees while supporting culture, engagement, and performance across the full C5ISR organization (~970 employees).
• Demonstrate proven experience building and sustaining a highly engaged workforce and positive culture, promoting collaboration, accountability, ethics, and safety.
• Provide coaching, development, and leadership support to managers and team members, enabling professional growth and strengthening organizational capability.
• Maintain regular, meaningful engagement with employees at all levels—from senior leadership to frontline personnel—to reinforce organizational alignment and clarity.
• Assist in planning, organizing, and managing program activities to meet technical, schedule, cost, and contractual objectives.
• Apply BAE Systems Lifecycle Management (LCM) practices and support disciplined execution across the full portfolio.
• Monitor performance using established metrics; support reporting to business leadership and customer stakeholders.
• Participate in risk and opportunity management to protect program financial commitments and schedule performance.
• Support recurring weekly, monthly, and quarterly program and financial reviews.
• Engage with senior government leaders including GS-15 civilian executives and O-6 through O-9 military officers.
• Communicate program priorities, risks, decisions, and progress clearly and effectively to executives and employees.
• Support customer updates, coordination, and issue resolution across all program sites.
• Collaborate closely with Contracts, Subcontracts, Finance, Supply Chain, HR, Engineering, and other functional partners to maintain integrated program execution.
• Support cross-functional decision-making and ensure consistent adherence to program standards and requirements.
• Participate in planning for follow-on work, including capture strategy development, proposal creation, program initiation, and competitive positioning.
• Assist leadership in evaluating discretionary investment strategies and shaping strategic approaches.
• Support process improvement initiatives and lessons-learned efforts to enhance performance, efficiency, and organizational learning.
• Assist the Program Director in maintaining safe, secure, and compliant facility operations at Lexington Park, MD, which has 72 assigned employees.
• Strengthen leadership presence and employee engagement at the site.

Required Education, Experience, & Skills

• Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 12+ years of relevant experience.
• Proven experience developing a highly engaged workforce and cultivating a strong, positive culture.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to brief senior executives and government leaders while engaging effectively with frontline employees.
• Experience supporting large, multi-disciplinary defense programs involving engineering, integration, test, delivery, and field services.
• Demonstrated ability to influence across diverse functional teams and support coordinated decision-making.
• Advanced problem-solving skills for complex issues not explicitly governed by established processes.

Preferred Education, Experience, & Skills

• PMP certification preferred.

Pay Information Full-Time Salary Range: $173023 - $294137 Please note: This range is based on our market pay structures. However, individual salaries are determined by a variety of factors including, but not limited to: business considerations, local market conditions, and internal equity, as well as candidate qualifications, such as skills, education, and experience. Employee Benefits: At BAE Systems, we support our employees in all aspects of their life, including their health and financial well-being. Regular employees scheduled to work 20+ hours per week are offered: health, dental, and vision insurance; health savings accounts; a 401(k) savings plan; disability coverage; and life and accident insurance. We also have an employee assistance program, a legal plan, and other perks including discounts on things like home, auto, and pet insurance. Our leave programs include paid time off, paid holidays, as well as other types of leave, including paid parental, military, bereavement, and any applicable federal and state sick leave. Employees may participate in the company recognition program to receive monetary or non-monetary recognition awards. Other incentives may be available based on position level and/or job specifics.