Senior Program Manager

Your greatest work is ahead! Leidos’ Defense Sector – Directed Energy Division in Albuquerque, NM is seeking a Senior Program Manager to join our team of talented scientists, engineers, and program staff focused on advancing Directed Energy systems. Leidos Defense Sector provides a diverse portfolio of systems, solutions, and services covering land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide. Solutions for Defense include enterprise and mission IT, large-scale intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. Our team is solving the world’s toughest security challenges for customers with “can’t fail” missions.

Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide the way we do business. NKE 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.

Primary Responsibilities

As a Senior Program Manager, the individual will lead a program team involved with design, development, integration, and test of novel Direct Energy systems. The position will have responsibility for planning, tracking, and execution of complex tasking within technical, schedule, and budget constraints. The Senior Program Manager will be the primary interface with the customer and will also be responsible for customer relationships. Additionally, the Senior Program Manager will be a critical member of proposal teams responsible for follow-on business and on contract growth. Communicate regularly with government and prime customers and other external stakeholders to build and maintain strong relationships founded on trust, transparency, and collaboration. Such communications include regular status updates as well as growth and strategy collaborations. These interactions include one-on-one interactions with senior leadership to large formal program management reviews with participants from the team. Through clear, frequent and compelling communication, set expectations and guide the direction of work of the internal team. Develop and implement execution and growth strategies for the program, leveraging the best available resources. Work with program team leads and Division leaders to develop staffing plans to execute the needed work. Work with program team leads, program finance analysts, and Division leaders to develop financial budgets, metrics and targets to successfully execute the required work. This must be done on a recurrent basis as the program evolves. Work with customers, collaborators, vendors, program team leads, matrixed scheduling staff, and Division leaders to develop detailed schedules to successfully execute the required work. This must be done on a recurrent basis as the program evolves. Use of EV-Lite type planning and monitoring. Provide regular, detailed, internal reporting in the form of Monthly Reports, Integrated Program Reviews, weekly status reports, etc. as required. Communicate frequently with Division leaders to maintain their awareness of program needs and performance expectations and seek resources or guidance to best achieve optimal program performance. Leveraging all available resources and collaborating with program staff, Division leaders, customers, team-members and stakeholders, work to aggressively mitigate all risks to consistent, on-time, on-cost, successful program execution. Travel (up to 25%) for test events and technical interchange meetings to various test locations or collaborator performance sites.

Basic Qualifications

• Must be a U.S Citizen
• Must have an active DOW clearance at the SECRET level or higher
• Bachelors Degree in science, engineering, or business with 12+ years of prior relevant experience or Masters with 10+ years of prior relevant experience.
• Prior experience in a program management or deputy program management role for a program with more than $30M in annual value.
• Prior experience leading programs or tasks involving the development, prototyping, and delivery of systems for Department of War applications.
• This position is located on-site in Albuquerque, NM.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading programs or tasks focused on Directed Energy systems to include HPM and lasers.
• Advanced degree in business, science, or engineering
• Active DoW Top Secret Clearance.
• Strong understanding of hardware development, manufacturing, procurement, production, and integration in an AS9100 environment
• Proven experience developing, maintaining, and managing to detailed program schedules, leveraging matrixed scheduling staff
• Proven experience developing, maintaining, and managing to detailed financial plans, leveraging matrixed program finance staff
• Proven experience leading through dynamic, program start-up or substantial program growth phases
• Proven experience communicating with senior company leadership regarding program status as well as expectation management and strategy shaping.
• Proven experience growing and maintaining solid customer and external stakeholder relationships based on trust, transparency, and demonstrated results
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a highly dynamic program environment with shifting priorities, requirements, and funding allocations.
• Consistent track record of achieving success through communication, transparency, and collaboration
• Demonstrated willingness and ability to be flexible and learn on the job from colleagues in new environments or when encountering new circumstances or requirements.

Pay Range

Pay Range: Pay Range $116,350.00 - $210,325.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

Benefits

Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement. More details are available here.

• competitive compensation
• Health and Wellness programs
• Income Protection
• Paid Leave and Retirement

Securing Your Data

Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information at any part of the employment application process. And Leidos will communicate with you only through emails that are sent from a Leidos.com email address. If you receive an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information, please report the email to View email address on click.appcast.io.

Commitment and Diversity

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.

Original Posting

Original Posting: September 11, 2026 For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.