At Areté, we are at the forefront of developing innovative solutions, with great minds from all backgrounds, to help solve the nation’s most complex security challenges. We strive for an inclusive, collaborative team environment that approaches differences as opportunities for innovation and excellence. As an employee-owned company, we foster an atmosphere that propels diverse career opportunities and professional growth.
Discover your future with us.
We are seeking a dynamic manager with a passion for bringing products to life in a customer useable configuration. We are looking for a Senior Program Manager to act as a critical bridge between design engineering, production and management. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a cutting-edge team at a new facility. Areté is seeking a candidate who will provide technical, programmatic, and managerial support to the Maritime Airborne Systems Sector. The candidate will be responsible for programmatic, technical and management related support in variety of ways including program execution, program scheduling, business development, manpower planning, and proposal development.
Candidates should have greater than 15 years’ (10 years with MS) experience in prog+ram management or leadership related disciplines. Candidate must be familiar with the overall Department of Defense (DoD) acquisitions process including Broad Area Announcements (BAA), Request for Information (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFP) and DoD related contracts and procurement processes. Candidate must also have some experience in financial planning, tracking, and estimating tools (Cognos, Costpoint, etc) and labor tracking tools (IBM Cognos) and Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) tools (MS Project).
In addition, the candidate should be familiar with risk, issues, and opportunity management and mitigation techniques and tools such as risk cubes, waterfall diagrams, and mitigation plans. The candidate must be able to communicate clearly, both written and verbally. Candidate will prepare, participate, and present in technical and programmatic briefings (MS PowerPoint) such as Program Reviews and Program Audits to both internal and external customers, and will write/support technical and cost proposal(s). This position is based out of our Healdsburg, CA office and/or remote and is an exempt, part-time, non-supervisory role with travel to the Healdsburg location once every 6 weeks with a 9/80 schedule.
Key Responsibilities
Senior (Technical) Program Manager:
• Drive planning, execution, and delivery of technical programs across engineering, product, design, and production teams.
• Collaborate with technical leads and stakeholders to define program scope, deliverables, and success metrics.
• Create and maintain detailed project plans, timelines, and status reports.
• Identify risks and develop mitigation strategies to ensure timely and successful program delivery.
• Ensure clear communication and alignment across teams and leadership on program status, goals, and issues.
• Champion continuous improvement in processes, tools, and team collaboration.
• Ability to obtain a secret clearance
Experiences and background we look for:
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in engineering, or related field. Or 15 years of program management for an engineering team.
• Proven experience in design development for electro-optical systems and gimbals.
• Proficiency in tools and practices.
1. Microsoft Project
2. Microsoft Excel, Outlook
3. Jira
4. CostPoint MES
The salary range for this role is $178,000 to $222,000; however, Arete considers several factors when extending an offer of employment, including but not limited to: the position and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills.
Other Considerations
Areté is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination, and we believe every person has the right to be treated with fairness, dignity, and equal consideration.
Areté is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
U.S. citizenship is required to meet position eligibility.
Successful passage of a criminal background screen is required to meet position eligibility.
Selected applicants will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.
We have an impressive range of benefits, programs, and perks that we offer:
Generous PTO and Leave Times
• Flextime Scheduling
• Bereavement
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid Parental Leave
Financial Benefits
• 401K Retirement Plan Contribution
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan
• Continuing Education Funds
Health, Medical, and Wellness Benefits
• Medical Insurance
• Dental & Vision Insurance
• Life Insurance and Long-Term Disability (LTD)
• Vision Reimbursement
Qualities We Look For
• Creativity
• Integrity
• Passion
• Responsiveness
• Collaboration
Areté will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.
Successful passage of a Department of Transportation (DOT) drug test is required to meet position eligibility.
If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website because of your disability. To request an accommodation, please contact Areté Human Resources at 818-885-2200 for assistance.
Skills Required
- More than 15 years of experience in program management or related leadership disciplines, or 10 years with a master's degree
- Bachelor's or master's degree in engineering or a related field, or 15 years of program management experience for an engineering team
- Familiarity with the Department of Defense acquisition process, including BAA, RFI, RFP, contracts, and procurement processes
- Experience with financial planning, tracking, and estimating tools such as Cognos or Costpoint
- Experience with labor-tracking tools such as IBM Cognos
- Experience with Integrated Master Schedule tools such as Microsoft Project
- Familiarity with risk, issue, and opportunity management and mitigation techniques
- Ability to communicate clearly in written and verbal communications
- Experience preparing and presenting technical and programmatic briefings
- Experience writing or supporting technical and cost proposals
- Proven experience in design development for electro-optical systems and gimbals
- Proficiency with Microsoft Project, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, Jira, and CostPoint MES
- Ability to obtain a Secret security clearance
- U.S. citizenship
- Successful criminal background screening
- Successful Department of Transportation drug test
What We Do
Areté, an employee-owned company, is an advanced science and engineering company that provides innovative solutions to the most challenging technical problems faced by the United States Defense and Intelligence agencies. Areté is derived from the Greek word “ἀρέτη”, meaning the pursuit of excellence and the achievement of maximum performance. Areté was founded in 1976 by five scientists, tasked by the DoD to help solve the challenge of detecting weak signals in heavy clutter over very wide areas. The signatures involved in this work were so weak that any advancement in signal processing algorithms demanded a new approach and understanding of the underlying fundamentals affecting the sensors and signal phenomena in the environments of interest. This first-principles-of-physics approach has been a hallmark of Areté’s development programs for the past 40 years Areté now works across the electromagnetic spectrum. We develop sensors and the associated signal processing algorithms necessary for the extraction and interpretation of data for systems operating under water, in the atmosphere, and in space. With our emphasis on enhanced signal processing and real-time executable software, Areté is able to improve the performance of existing sensor systems at fractions of the cost and time to operations of replacement systems. We work directly with customers and partners seeking maximum performance. Building on our expertise in detection theory we will continue to exploit the contextual, spatial, spectral, and temporal characteristics of data, incorporating them into our signal processing algorithms. These robust algorithms will continue to enable Areté to rapidly deliver innovative solutions to the ever evolving challenges of our customers.
