Program Operations Manager

The Role

Raydar is recruiting for this role on behalf of our client. Act as the accountable program owner for customer engagements, partnering with a technical lead and a team of engineers. Convert unclear customer needs into prioritized work plans and manage people through demanding, time-sensitive projects. Serve as the main connection between government stakeholders and the delivery team.

What You'll Do

Take full responsibility for customer engagements from kickoff to completion as the program owner, working alongside a technical lead and engineers.

Develop a first-hand understanding of how customers actually operate by spending time with their data and their users, instead of relying only on written documentation.

Turn customer goals into clearly scoped and ranked work, separating real mission needs from noise and personal preferences.

Communicate between government customers and engineers so that everyone understands what must be delivered.

Remove obstacles quickly and adjust course when results show the current plan is not working.

Build lasting working relationships with end users, program leaders, technical contacts and contracting staff.

Pass field insights back to product and engineering groups to guide future development and delivery methods.

Lead and manage internal and external teams, with room to grow your own organization over time.

What We're Looking For

At least 4 years running complex technical programs or deployments from start to finish in a national security setting.

A track record of being answerable for real results rather than only hitting timelines.

Prior experience directly managing or leading people.

Comfort collaborating with government clients in classified environments.

Ability to shape vague requirements into well-defined, prioritized engineering tasks.

Confidence guiding teams through pressured, quickly changing situations.

Active Secret clearance at time of hire.

Legal authorization to work in the United States.

Residence within commuting distance of the Washington, D.C. area.

Willingness to travel up to 40% of the time.

Bonus Points

TS/SCI clearance.

Experience delivering work for government or national security clients.

Previous forward deployed, deployment strategy or customer mission success role at a technology company.

Prior military or government service.

An existing professional network in the industry.

Hands-on experience with enterprise data platforms.

Benefits

Health, dental and vision coverage.

Life and disability insurance.

Paid time off and paid holidays.

Location and Work Model

Washington, D.C., United States.

Hybrid, in the office approximately 2-3 times per month.

Up to 40% travel.

Full-time.

Compensation, As The Posting Describes It

Annual bonus.

Retirement plan.

Professional development opportunities.