Program Manager

About the role

Leander, TX | Onsite | Full-Time

General Qualifications (All Roles)

• America matters. The mission matters. You must believe deeply in both.
• High-agency self-starter who moves fast and delivers without waiting for instructions.
• Extreme ownership. No excuses. No "that's not my job."
• Strong judgment and a relentless bias for action.
• Comfortable operating without a playbook, solving hard problems, and adapting as priorities change.
• Low ego, high standards, and committed to winning as a team.
• ITAR Requirement: To conform with U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), refugee, asylee, or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorization from the U.S. Department of State.

The Role

You'll serve as the primary integration point between engineering execution and program delivery, owning schedule, budget, customer relationships, and contract requirements while working closely enough with engineering to understand the technical decisions driving each program. You'll help keep hardware programs moving from early development through test and delivery.

Program Management

• Own program schedule, budget (EVM or lightweight equivalent), risk register, and deliverables across one or more counter-UAS / kinetic effector programs.
• Serve as primary customer POC for program status, technical interchange meetings (TIMs), and deliverable reviews.
• Manage subcontractors, vendors, and supply chain dependencies against program milestones.
• Prepare and present program reviews, internal and customer-facing, including CDRLs, status reports, and risk mitigation plans.
• Manage contract compliance (CPFF, FFP, OTA) in coordination with contracts/finance.

Program Engineering Management

• Partner directly with engineering leads on system architecture, design maturity, and technical risk tracking.
• Translate engineering realities, including test failures, design changes, and supply chain substitutions, into schedule and cost impact assessments.
• Drive requirements management and verification/validation planning, including test plans and acceptance criteria.
• Participate in design reviews (PDR/CDR/TRR) as a technical stakeholder, not just a scribe.
• Identify and resolve conflicts between engineering scope creep and program baseline.

Compliance & Process

• Ensure program execution aligns with ITAR/EAR, CMMC, and DFARS requirements as applicable.
• Support proposal development and capture activities with realistic technical and schedule inputs.
• Maintain configuration management and documentation discipline across the program lifecycle.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years in defense program management, systems engineering, or a hybrid PM/engineering role.
• Demonstrated experience managing hardware development programs, not pure software/IT.
• Working knowledge of DoD acquisition processes, CDRLs, and contract types.
• Ability to read and engage with engineering drawings, test data, and technical requirements documents.
• U.S. Citizen.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with counter-UAS, munitions, kinetic effectors, or related weapons systems programs.
• PMP or equivalent certification.
• Familiarity with CMMC Level 2 requirements and FFL/FEL-regulated environments.
• Prior startup or small-defense-contractor experience, including comfort with ambiguity and wearing multiple hats.

Why Wild West

• Build the whole thing. Own your work from first principles through design, prototype, test, iteration, and production. What you build will leave the screen and enter the real world.
• Build where the hardware gets built. Engineering, fabrication, manufacturing, and testing happen under one roof, so ideas move fast.
• Make an impact from day one. Your decisions will shape the product, the roadmap, and the company itself.
• Move at mission speed. Work with urgency, solve hard problems, and turn ambitious ideas into field-ready systems.
• Share in what you build. Every employee has the opportunity to own stock options and participate in the company's success.
• Work with exceptional people. Join a team defined by high standards, low ego, direct communication, and relentless execution.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation
• Equity: Stock options included with every offer
• Medical: 100% of employee premiums covered, 90% for spouse/family
• Dental & vision: 100% of premiums covered
• 401(k): Company plan with match
• Unlimited PTO
• Relocation support: Available for candidates relocating to the Austin area

Location and Eligibility

This is a full-time, onsite role at our facility in Leander, Texas, approximately 30 minutes from downtown Austin.

Itar

Eligibility: To conform with U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), refugee, asylee, or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorization from the U.S. Department of State.

• Wild West Systems uses E-Verify to confirm employment authorization.
• Direct applicants only. We do not work with staffing companies for this role.