Program Manager, Software Development
maxar · Herndon, VA ·
- Seniority
- Senior
- Employment
- Contract
- Category
- Project management
- Experience
- 2+ years
maxar · Herndon, VA ·
Maxar Technologies · Westminster, CO
Maxar Technologies · Westminster, CO
Maxar Technologies · Westminster, CO
Maxar Technologies · Westminster, CO
Vantor is forging the new frontier of spatial intelligence, helping decision makers and operators navigate what’s happening now and shape what’s coming next. Vantor is a place for problem solvers, changemakers, and go-getters—where people are working together to help our customers see the world differently, and in doing so, be seen differently. Come be part of a mission, not just a job, where you can: Shape your own future, build the next big thing, and change the world.
To be eligible for this position, you must be a U.S. Citizen. This position requires an active U.S. Government security clearance, applicants who do not currently hold the required clearance will not be eligible for consideration. Employment for cleared roles is contingent upon verification of clearance status.

Export Control/ITAR: Certain roles may be subject to U.S. export control laws, requiring U.S. person status as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
Please review the job details below.
This position requires current DHS/CBP Suitability.
Vantor is currently seeking a Senior Program Manager to lead the Kestrel and FALCON efforts. This role can be performed remotely within the continental United States.
As a Senior Program Manager, you will own overall program execution across customer engagement, financial performance, personnel management, deliverables, schedule, risk, and technical delivery. Your work will have a direct impact on supporting mission partners through software, data science, analytics, and mission-focused capability development.
In this role, you will serve as the primary program leader for a cross-functional team of approximately 12-16 team members, including software engineers, data scientists, systems engineers, and mission-focused technical staff. You will work closely with customer stakeholders, internal leadership, contracts, finance, recruiting, and delivery teams to ensure Kestrel and FALCON are executed with transparency, accountability, and strong mission alignment.
What You'll Be Doing:
Owning end-to-end execution of the Falcon program, including customer engagement, CPFF contract execution, financial performance, staffing, personnel management, technical delivery, deliverables, schedule, risk, and issue management. You will lead a multidisciplinary team supporting software engineering, data science, analytics, and mission-focused capability development, while maintaining close alignment with customer priorities and internal business objectives.
You will be heavily involved in customer-facing engagements, including regular status meetings, technical discussions, program reviews, deliverable reviews, planning sessions, and executive-level updates. You will be expected to translate between mission needs, technical implementation, contractual requirements, and business execution to ensure the team delivers meaningful outcomes while maintaining a strong customer partnership.
Responsibilities:
Serve as the primary Program Manager responsible for overall Kestrel and FALCON execution, performance, delivery, and customer satisfaction.
Lead, coordinate, and support a team of approximately 12-16 personnel across software engineering, data science, systems engineering, and technical support functions.
Own program financial management, including CPFF execution, cost tracking, burn rates, staffing plans, forecasts, EAC inputs, invoice support, and coordination with finance and contracts teams.
Manage program deliverables, milestones, schedules, risks, dependencies, and action items with clear ownership and follow-through.
Lead customer-facing communications, including status updates, program reviews, technical discussions, planning meetings, and issue resolution.
Partner with technical leads to ensure software, data science, and analytics efforts are scoped, staffed, prioritized, and delivered in alignment with mission needs.
Support agile planning and execution across sprint, release, roadmap, and backlog management activities.
Translate customer priorities into actionable program plans, technical workstreams, and measurable delivery outcomes.
Provide hands-on technical management and informed decision-making across software development, data pipelines, analytics, system integration, and operational support activities.
Support recruiting, onboarding, performance feedback, team development, and personnel issue resolution.
Maintain strong internal coordination with leadership, capture, contracts, finance, security, and talent acquisition stakeholders.
Identify growth opportunities, shape future work, and help position Falcon for continued mission impact and customer partnership.
Minimum Qualifications:
Must be a US citizen.
Current DHS/CBP suitability
Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, computer science, information systems, data science, program management, or a related field. Four additional years of relevant experience may be substituted for a bachelor's degree. A master's degree may count as an additional 2 years of experience.
6+ years of demonstrated professional experience in program management, technical project management, software delivery management, systems engineering management, data science support, or related technical leadership roles.
Demonstrated experience managing software, data science, analytics, systems engineering, or mission technology programs or teams.
Experience leading multidisciplinary technical teams, including direct or matrixed leadership of engineers, data scientists, analysts, or technical support personnel.
Experience managing customer-facing program execution, including status reporting, planning, deliverable coordination, risk management, issue resolution, and stakeholder engagement.
Experience supporting contract, cost, schedule, staffing, and deliverable performance in a government contracting environment.
Working knowledge of agile software development practices and tools, such as Jira, Confluence, and Git-based workflows.
Technically fluent and comfortable engaging with engineering and data science teams on software delivery, data pipelines, analytics, APIs, cloud-like environments, integration challenges, and operational support considerations.
Must be willing to work in a remote setting or nearby Vantor facility and comfortable communicating via video calls.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience serving as the Program Manager or Deputy Program Manager for a CPFF, T&M, or mixed contract environment.
Experience managing program execution, including cost performance, staffing plans, burn rates, EAC inputs, funding awareness, and coordination with finance and contracts stakeholders.
Experience supporting Department of Homeland Security, specifically CBP and DHS S&T
Hands-on background in software engineering, systems engineering, data engineering, data science, analytics, or technical delivery prior to moving into program or technical management.
Experience managing teams that build, deploy, and sustain software applications, analytical capabilities, data pipelines, or mission support tools in a cloud environment.
Exposure to cloud or cloud-like environments, containerized deployments, CI/CD workflows, streaming data architectures, APIs, databases, and modern software delivery practices.
Experience leading roadmap, backlog, sprint, release, and prioritization activities in partnership with technical leads and customer stakeholders.
Strong ability to translate between customer mission needs, technical implementation details, contractual requirements, and business execution priorities.
Ability to identify program risks early, communicate tradeoffs clearly, and drive timely resolution across internal and external stakeholders.
Demonstrated ability to build trust with customers while maintaining accountability for scope, cost, schedule, quality, and team performance.
You are a creative problem-solver who wants to apply breakthrough technologies for the good of humanity and to keep our country safe.
Strong verbal, written, documentation, briefing, facilitation, and organizational skills.
Pay Transparency: To support pay transparency, Vantor includes salary ranges in all U.S. job postings. Starting pay for this role will fall within the listed range and will be based on factors such as experience, qualifications, skills, location, and market conditions. Candidates who meet the minimum requirements for the role should not expect to receive compensation at the top of the range. The listed range reflects the expected pay for this position, and final offers will be determined based on each candidate’s experience, expertise, and alignment with the role.
For all other states, we use geographic cost of labor as an input to develop market-driven ranges for our roles, and as such, each location where we hire may have a different range.
Benefits: Vantor offers a competitive total rewards package that goes beyond the standard, including a robust 401(k) with company match, mental health resources, and unique perks like student loan repayment assistance, adoption reimbursement and pet insurance to support all aspects of your life. You can find more information on our benefits at:
The application window is three days from the date the job is posted and will remain posted until a qualified candidate has been identified for hire. If the job is reposted regardless of reason, it will remain posted three days from the date the job is reposted and will remain reposted until a qualified candidate has been identified for hire.
The date of posting can be found on Vantor's Career page at the top of each job posting.
To apply, submit your application via Vantor's Career page.
EEO Policy: Vantor is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace. We believe in fostering an environment where all team members feel respected, valued, and encouraged to share their ideas. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Vantor · Herndon, VA