Technical Program Manager

Job Description

Job Description

About Canopy Aerospace & Defense

Canopy A&D is built to accelerate the future of advanced materials for space, defense, and maritime systems. Canopy delivers specialized materials and components that carry customers from concept through sustainment. Canopy A&D’s advanced signal attenuation technologies and production-scale manufacturing accelerate the fielding of platforms that are faster, cooler, and quieter. Our adaptive approach ensures solutions evolve at the pace of shifting challenges, keeping our customers ahead of the curve.

Canopy Technologies’ mission is to engineer materials and solutions enabling strategic platforms to operate faster, cooler, and quieter. Our team develops advanced materials and manufacturing processes to support the most challenging missions in the galaxy: re-entry from space, interplanetary travel, hypersonic weapons, and more. Canopy’s engineering centers around extreme environment materials needed to withstand heat, corrosive environments, and the harshness of space. 

Role Overview

As a Technical Program Manager at Canopy Technologies, a Canopy A&D platform, you will lead cross-functional teams to deliver innovative thermal protection solutions from concept through production. You’ll serve as the key technical liaison between customers and internal teams, ensuring alignment on goals, timelines, and deliverables. 

This is a highly dynamic role, and you will also have the opportunity to support front-end program development and capture, working closely with the Growth and Engineering teams to translate customer needs into executable programs. This could include developing proposals, defining engineering requirements, and ensuring a smooth transition for new programs from the acquisition phase through execution. A key aspect of this position will be your ability to engage with prospective customers on a technical level, shaping new opportunities and laying the groundwork for successful program delivery.

This role is essential to advancing Canopy Technologies’ mission of developing cutting-edge thermal protection technologies by coordinating joint development efforts, managing program risks, and driving informed decision-making across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Align cross-functional teams—including engineering, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain— on program goals, timelines, and deliverables to ensure seamless execution from concept through production.
• Serve as the primary technical liaison for customers, translating feedback into actionable engineering tasks and ensuring alignment with program objectives and requirements.
• Represent technical content clearly and effectively to internal stakeholders and external partners, including customers, suppliers, and sister companies.
• Support proposal and business capture efforts for new and existing customers by defining requirements, performing feasibility studies, developing technical scope/budgets, drafting and presenting written proposals to internal and external leadership, and managing early-stage transition from acquisition to kickoff.
• Coordinate joint development efforts across affiliated companies and business units, ensuring shared milestones, resources, and deliverables are met.
• Support technical execution across engineering and manufacturing as needed to meet program objectives and timelines.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate program risks early, implementing contingency plans to maintain schedule and technical performance.
• Track program progress using project management tools, maintaining visibility on key milestones, budgets, and resource allocation.
• Prepare dashboards, KPIs, and performance metrics for internal leadership and customer review to communicate program health and status.
• Facilitate timely and informed decision-making by providing data-driven insights, technical context, and clear trade-off analyses to leadership and engineering teams.
• Support the development and qualification of Canopy Technologies’ thermal protection materials and other product development initiatives across affiliated partners.
• Travel to customer sites, test facilities, and partner locations as needed to support program execution and integration activities.

Required Qualifications

• Ability to obtain a U.S. Security Clearance (Secret or higher). This includes meeting background check and other requirements, as required for access to controlled defense-related information and facilities.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent industry experience working on cross-functional engineering teams.
• 5+ years of experience in technical program management or similar role with a high degree of technical ownership, preferably in aerospace, defense, or advanced materials industries.
• Experience managing and executing on programs involving launch vehicles, missile systems, thermal protection systems, thermal design, and/or composite materials.
• Proven leadership track record managing and owning complex, multi-disciplinary engineering products or systems from concept through delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to lead joint programs across internal departments and external partners or customers.
• Experience and comfortability working in CAD to support engineering collaboration.
• Strong technical background with direct experience in thermal control systems, vibration isolation materials/subsystems, and/or radar absorption materials/subsystems, and the ability to understand and communicate complex engineering concepts.
• Experience with risk management, milestone and performance (KPI) tracking, and project planning tools (e.g., MS Project, Jira, Confluence, Smartsheet).
• Excellent documentation, communication, and interpersonal skills, including developing long-form technical reports and executive-level presentations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with Aerospace Thermal Protection Systems (TPS), ablatives, high-temperature composites, ceramic matrix composites (CMC), or advanced coatings systems. 
• Familiarity with government contracting environments (as prime or sub), including FAR/DFARS-related processes. 
• Active U.S. Security Clearance (Secret or higher).
• Graduate-level technical degree, such as M.S. or PhD in a science or engineering discipline.
• Familiarity with defense, aerospace, and space standards such as MIL-STD-810, RTCA/DO-160, SMS-S-016, or similar.
• PMP or similar project management certification.
• Experience with qualification and development testing, in addition to production testing environments.
• Background in customer-facing roles or business development in a technical environment.
• Hands-on experience working with advanced metallic and non-metallic materials including, but not limited to, super alloys, ceramics, composites, or elastomers.

Additional Requirements

• Must have professional working proficiency reading, writing, and speaking English
• Ability to work in office, lab, and manufacturing environments with occasional exposure to noise, chemicals, dust, industrial equipment, and temperature variations
• Ability to sit or stand for extended periods while working at a computer workstation
• Frequent use of hands and fingers for data entry, keyboarding, and mouse use
• Ability to view computer screens for prolonged periods
• Ability to communicate effectively in person, by phone, and via email
• Ability to use a computer to complete assignments 
• Willingness to work long hours and weekends when needed to meet critical deadlines
• Willingness to travel to other Canopy A&D sites as needed

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, or skills required. Management may modify or assign additional duties as needed

Job Details

Type: Full Time, Exempt (Salaried)

Base Salary Range: $100,000 to $160,000

Business Hours: Core Business Hours

Base Location: Irvine, CA — Full Time, On-Site

Travel: Up to 15%

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Total compensation will also include a comprehensive set of benefits including but not limited to: Company paid employee medical, dental and vision insurance. 401K company match (eligibility required), paid sick leave, paid vacation, paid holidays and discretionary bonuses.

EXPORT CONTROL REQUIREMENTS:

To conform to US Government export regulations, the applicant must be a (i) US Citizen, (ii) lawful permanent resident of the U.S. (aka green card holder), (iii) protected individual as defined by U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or (iv) eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Canopy A&D is an Equal Opportunity Employer, employment with Canopy A&D is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.