Senior Program Manager

Irvine, CA; Manchester, Connecticut, United States

Aerospace is at a turning point — costs are rising, supply chains are strained, and old ways of building can’t keep up. At Neon Aero, we’re breaking that mold. We move fast, think big, and combine start-up agility with aerospace expertise to design, build, and scale aircraft in ways the industry has never seen. Our team leverages automation, AI-driven tools, and a fully connected digital backbone to accelerate innovation and reduce barriers to production.

Here, you won’t just take a job — you’ll help reinvent how the world flies. If you’re ready to solve complex problems, push technology further, and work alongside some of the brightest minds in aerospace, this is your chance to make a real impact.

Neon Aero is on the search for Senior Program Managers to work onsite in either Manchester, CT. or Irvine CA. The Senior Program Manager leads complex, high-visibility aerospace, defense, or technology programs across Neon Aero's product development environment. This is a highly cross-functional program management role that blends technical expertise, customer-facing leadership, and strategic program oversight. It requires an engineering background and the ability to engage credibly with technical teams on systems, requirements, development maturity, integration risk, and design execution.

The Senior Program Manager is responsible for ensuring programs are delivered on time, on budget, and in alignment with business goals and applicable regulatory standards. Serving as the connective point across system, subsystem, and cross-functional teams, this role drives execution, coordinates deliverables, tracks dependencies and decisions, and identifies and mitigates risks, moving programs from concept through integration, validation, and production with accountability, schedule integrity, and technical rigor.

Depending on program scope, the Senior Program Manager serves as the primary interface with customers and, where applicable, certification authorities, and manages program budgets, suppliers, and contract scope. The role also establishes or implements program management practices that strengthen Neon's ability to scale.

We’re hiring for this role at multiple levels. If you don’t meet every qualification listed but believe you’d be a strong fit, we encourage you to apply. Your experience will help us determine the level that’s right for you.

Why This Role Matters:

• Lead complex, engineering-focused projects or programs across multidisciplinary hardware and software efforts, owning the full lifecycle from concept through development, integration, validation, certification, and production readiness.
• Serve as the primary cross-functional leader responsible for aligning technical execution, business priorities, and program outcomes.
• Partner with cross‑functional leads, including engineering leadership, technical leads, and program sponsors, to define program scope, expected outcomes, requirements maturity, and execution strategy, and translate program goals into integrated schedules, milestones, and executable workstreams.
• Develop and maintain program strategies, risk management plans, and integrated master schedules, including deliverables and critical paths.
• Own tradeoff decisions across cost, schedule, scope, and resources to deliver programs on time and on budget, partnering with engineering leadership on technical impacts.
• Partner with Finance to manage program budgets, forecasts, and profitability.
• Support proposals, pricing, and contract negotiations, working with Finance and Business Development on pricing strategies and cost and schedule estimates.
• Manage contract scope and change control.

Execution & Coordination

• Drive execution and align multidisciplinary teams, including systems, design, mechanical, electrical, software, firmware, integration, test, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, certification, and operations, to meet commitments.
• Monitor program performance and execution health across schedule, risk, budget, technical maturity, quality, and compliance with engineering and design requirements.
• Track dependencies, interface points, open actions, and decision logs to ensure program alignment and forward progress.
• Identify technical, schedule, and integration risks early and mitigate them through to closure by escalating issues, facilitating decisions, and surfacing tradeoffs.
• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to move programs through prototype, integration, verification/validation, and production readiness, aligning teams on priorities, readiness criteria, and transition milestones.
• Lead recurring program, design, risk, and readiness reviews with clear agendas, action ownership, and status reporting.
• Give engineering and executive leadership clear visibility into status, priorities, risks, decisions needed, and mitigation plans through concise, decision-ready updates.

Customer, Process & Team Leadership

• Partner directly with customers, depending on program scope, serving as the primary customer interface for program execution, translating customer needs into actionable program requirements, and building long‑term customer relationships.
• Represent Neon with key customers, suppliers, and, where applicable, certification authorities, including formal program reviews, executive‑level briefings, and industry forums.
• Manage supplier relationships and deliverables to meet quality, schedule, and cost targets.
• Establish and implement repeatable program management practices, tools, metrics, governance, and meeting cadences that support lean, efficient execution and strengthen Neon's ability to scale.
• Contribute to strategic planning and goal setting for the program management function in partnership with senior leadership.
• Ensure compliance with applicable industry standards, regulations, and safety requirements [e.g., AS9100, FAA/EASA], including integration of certified or regulated products where applicable.
• Coach and mentor engineers and, at senior levels, program managers; support hiring, performance management, and capability development as applicable to level.
• Drive a culture of accountability, technical partnership, and continuous improvement across programs.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in engineering (including aerospace, systems, mechanical, electrical, or software engineering), computer science, business, or a related technical field; equivalent professional experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• 5+ years of progressive experience in technical program management, engineering program leadership, systems integration, product development management, technical project engineering, or related roles within aerospace, defense, or complex engineered systems.
• Strong engineering background and ability to work credibly with technical teams on requirements, integration, development risk, and execution planning.
• Experience leading complex, cross‑functional engineering or aerospace programs across hardware and software teams, from concept through production.
• Strong experience with integrated schedules, program governance, dependency tracking, risk management, and executive reporting, including establishing program processes, action registers, and metrics.
• Experience managing program budgets and forecasts, with strong analytical, financial, and business acumen.
• Ability to build, guide, and influence cross‑functional teams and maintain execution momentum in fast‑paced, matrixed environments.
• Executive‑level communication, presentation, negotiation, and customer relationship skills, with the ability to communicate credibly with technical contributors.
• Strong working knowledge of systems engineering, requirements management, product development lifecycles, verification and validation, and engineering change processes.
• Experience coordinating across engineering, operations, supply chain, quality, and executive stakeholders to deliver to schedule, quality, and design specification expectations.
• Ability to synthesize technical complexity into clear program structure and actionable decision support.
• Proficiency with project management tools (MS Project, Smartsheet, Jira, ERP/MES) for schedule tracking, action management, risk management, and cross‑functional program reporting.

Preferred

• Experience in aerospace, aviation, advanced air mobility, autonomy, defense, automotive, robotics, consumer hardware, or other complex, regulated, or hardware‑rich development environments.
• Proven success leading large, customer‑facing programs with FAA/EASA certification and product introduction into production.
• Experience managing P&L‑level program responsibilities.
• Experience leading through ambiguity in startup or rapidly scaling environments.
• Prior people management experience, including leading other program managers or building program management functions, or experience in engineering management, product development management, or operations leadership.
• Project management certification.
• Any specific certification, regulatory, airworthiness, clearance, or customer‑facing program experience requirements.

Why Join Us

• Work alongside elite engineering talent and innovators from across aerospace and tech.
• Be part of a team moving faster than the industry standard.
• Shape solutions that are lower‑cost, autonomous, and scalable, the future of aviation.
• Competitive compensation, including equity participation, growth opportunities, and full health benefits (health, vision, dental, 401(k)) designed to support you in and out of work.

This is the expected compensation range for this role. Final compensation will be based on role scope, experience, skills, internal equity and location. This role may also be eligible for bonus/equity/benefits, if applicable.

$150,000 - $250,000 USD

Neon Aero, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation, and we welcome candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

All final candidates must successfully complete a background check and drug screening as a condition of employment.