Program Manager

About the Role

Talon Defense, Inc. is a small, agile U.S. defense contractor supporting cyber and national security missions. We're hiring a Program Manager to lead and coordinate projects across technical teams, customers, and mission stakeholders. This role is critical to driving successful execution in a startup environment where flexibility, accountability, and communication are paramount.

As a member of our early-stage leadership team, you won't just manage schedules—you'll help shape processes, build customer relationships, and keep fast-moving technical efforts aligned with mission objectives. We're looking for someone with a hands-on mindset who's comfortable navigating ambiguity and helping build structure from the ground up.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable outlining and planning all aspects of work related to a given project such as budget, timelines and teams. They will have strong communication skills that enable them to effectively communicate with all relevant teams and clients. This individual should be able to foresee any problems related to the completion of a project and act in a timely manner to mitigate any issues.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop timelines, budget, teams and plan for given project
• Ensure high quality work is produced
• Anticipate and solve any problems related to the program
• Conduct performance reviews and evaluate program
• Facilitate communication between relevant teams

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Management, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
• Project Management: Strong understanding of project or program management principles in a technical or defense environment
• Leadership: Demonstrated ability to coordinate cross-functional teams and manage customer expectations
• Communication: Excellent communication, documentation, and organizational skills
• Methodology: Familiarity with agile methodologies or iterative development processes
• Business Development: Willingness to support business development, proposal coordination, and operational planning as needed
• Technical Translation: Comfort supporting technical discussions and translating requirements between engineers and end users

Desired Qualifications

• Experience managing programs in defense, cybersecurity, or intelligence sectors
• Prior involvement with DoD acquisition programs or contracts
• Familiarity with program control tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence, MS Project / ProjectLibre)
• Understanding of government contracting lifecycles and compliance (e.g., DFARS, CMMC)
• PMP or similar certification

Why Talon Defense?

Join a team focused on building elite, operationally relevant cyber capabilities. We combine technical precision with mission urgency, giving our researchers and developers the freedom to innovate and the support to execute at the speed of need.