Head of Programme Management

As the Program Manager, you will lead human-centered design, research, communications, and implementation efforts within our Hana Defense Solutions (HDS) team, part of the Native Hawaiian nonprofit corporation The Hana Group.

From strategic vision to tactical implementation, we deliver adaptable, mission-centered solutions that help government and defense clients achieve lasting impact. Our team supports the mission-critical efforts of the Department of War (DoW) and federal clients through human-centered design, technology, and co-development.

As the Program Manager, you'll provide project leadership over cross-functional teams, working closely with senior leadership, stakeholders, and the customer to manage workstreams, tasking, program risks and dependencies, and project outcomes. You'll ensure the delivery of high-quality products that address the complex problems and pain points the DoW faces, and you'll be expected to not only manage your project, but to maintain the relationship that keeps the contract moving forward or expanding.

Serve as the customer point of contact for leadership and partner organizations, ensuring continuous alignment between mission needs and deliverables

Lead the full project lifecycle: define vision, gather and prioritize requirements, oversee execution, and drive adoption of solutions and strategies

Maintain relationships between the customer, leadership, partner organizations, and the internal team

Manage project scope, performance, and risk

Attend weekly syncs with Program Managers to communicate identified cross-program risks, dependencies, and resource conflicts

Regularly attend in-person customer meetings on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, as required

Maintain project documentation, deliverable schedules, and task trackers to ensure accurate visibility into solution status, escalating issues as needed

Document lessons learned, frameworks, and methodologies for reuse and knowledge sharing within the organization

Supervise and mentor project team members, providing coaching focused on delivery quality and client satisfaction

Track record of supervising and mentoring project teams, with a focus on delivery quality and client satisfaction

Comfort running an agile delivery cadence (e.g., sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives) to keep teams and clients aligned

Ability to manage program budget and profitability alongside day-to-day delivery

Executive-level communication skills, with experience briefing clients and leadership on progress, risk, and recommendations

Ability to translate vague client requests into structured plans and clear next steps

Bachelor's degree in Business, Management, Human-Centered Design, or a related field

2+ years of experience managing multi-disciplinary teams

Background in business development and contract expansion

Experience with task management platforms like Jira

Experience managing backlogs, and understanding risks, dependencies, and mitigation

Knowledge of DoW contracting, performance management, and budget execution

Ability to travel for in-person sessions with clients

S. citizen and possess a DoD Secret or higher security clearance

Familiarity with Confluence, Figma, Adobe, and other tools

Experience leading distributed, hybrid, or fully remote teams across multiple geographic locations

Familiarity with defense logistics and acquisitions, cyber and technology, operational and infrastructure, and other defense workstreams

Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for qualified Health, Dependent Care, and Transportation expenses

Flexible PTO

Paid Federal Holidays

Short term disability insurance

Full time, 40 hours per week

Remote with periodic on-site presence at client locations as needed (2-3 days/week for some positions