Senior Project Manager

Sunnyvale, CA

Founded in 2015, Acubed is the Silicon Valley innovation center of Airbus. As a global leader in aerospace, Airbus aims to make things fly. Our mission is to provide a lens into the future for the industry, transforming risk into opportunity to build the future of flight now.

At Acubed, we strive to propel innovation to market faster, broaden the talent pool in emerging aerospace careers and simultaneously help drive a culture change across Airbus.

Senior Project Manager 

Founded in 2015, Acubed is the Silicon Valley innovation center of Airbus. As a global leader in aerospace, Airbus aims to make things fly. Our mission is to provide a lens into the future for the industry, transforming risk into opportunity to build the future of flight now.

At Acubed, we strive to propel innovation to market faster, broaden the talent pool in emerging aerospace careers and simultaneously help drive a culture change across Airbus.

WAYFINDER

The Wayfinder team is building scalable, certifiable autonomy systems to power the next generation of commercial aircraft. Our experts are driving the maturation of machine learning and other core technologies for autonomous flight; we are creating a reference architecture that includes hardware, software, and a data-driven development process to allow aircraft to perceive and react to their environment. Autonomous flight is transforming the transportation industry, and our team is at the heart of this revolution.

The Opportunity: 

As Wayfinder’s Senior Project Manager, you are responsible for projects on the Wayfinder team with a focus on financial planning, resource allocation, creating contracts, and procurement to satisfy the team’s technical plan and deliverables. You will provide strategic leadership and direction for project teams and guide them through project planning, execution, and delivery. You will play a key role in setting priorities, defining scope, and managing risks. This position reports to the VP of AI, Autonomy and Digital Information.

In this role, you will steer results-driven outcomes while prioritizing relationships and effective communication fluently with both technical leaders and other team members. You will’ll partner with engineering leads to manage various planning and reporting efforts and. You will ensure progress by identifying and driving continuous improvement. Most importantly, you have a strong sense of ownership and a passion for project management. You enjoy solving complex problems and excel at fostering strong relationships and building trust within the team and among stakeholders.

Role Responsibilities: 

  • Manage project budgetary risks and opportunities and associated action plans
  • Compile financial needs and prepare and administer the yearly and quarterly budgets, and administer it, keeping a tight grip of financial forecasting
  • Proactively oversee budget execution and project cost breakdown, as required by unforeseen events, and  managing and updating as needed the project’s cost breakdown structure
  • Analyze project actuals and commitments at the end of each month
  • Monitor the status of purchase orders and contracts and prepare financial accruals at the end of each month (including tracking contracts and auto-renewals)
  • Coordinate and delegate management of procurement orders from beginning to end (getting approval, placing orders, following up with vendors, tracking receipt and updating project documentation)
  • Draft and negotiate contracts and shepherd them through the review process to execution
  • Update stakeholders on current project status, compile supporting information, documentation, and presentations
  • Collaborate closely with Technical Project Management to ensure alignment and professional growth within the team
  • Manage internal relationships with support functions (including Information Technology Digital Information, legal, finance, communications, comms and other operational teams)
  • Oversee and drive project progress of projects, identify discrepancies and risks to mitigate schedule and resource impacts, and update the relevant team members including VP of AI, Autonomy, Digital Information
  • Pursue program-specific tasks and issues identified by VP of AI, Autonomy, Digital Information.
  • Implement and improve project and program management methods in response to ongoing tasks and to accommodate the continued growth of the team and scope
  • Manage team visitors including NDAs and other operational policy requirements
  • Support and organize activities of the team, using latest planning tools and methodologies

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Project Management or a related field or equivalent work experience 
  • 8+ years of professional experience in project or program management with a strong emphasis on budget planning and monitoring, contractings management, and procurement
  • Demonstrated expertise in financial management, including compiling financial needs, preparing budgets, and administering financial forecasting.
  • Proven track record of managing procurement processes, including coordinating and delegating management of procurement orders, drafting contracts, and ensuring timely execution.
  • Exceptional ability to build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders such as engineers, technologists, and various support functions (e.g., information technologyDigital Information, legal, finance, and communications)
  • Proven experience managing complex projects to successful completion including the ability to navigate complex environments and work with interdisciplinary teams and effectively communicate priorities, delivery expectations, risks and concerns to senior management
  • Ability to define and/or modify processes rather than applying what exists today
  • Flexibility and ability to adapt to changing priorities and requirements, including the ability to multi-task and juggle many competing priorities and deadlines
  • Ability to be extremely detail-oriented and to use analysis to drive decisions
  • Experience working  in a matrix-style organizational structure to motivate and influence others
  • Strong team-building skills and the ability to mentor team members, ensuring alignment and professional growth

Preferred Qualifications: 

  • Experience with cloud services and deployment
  • PMP Scrum and/ or Six Sigma certifications 
  • Experience in a high-tech, start-up, or AI-focused, fast pacing environment is a plus

Pay Transparency Notice: Depending on your work location and years of experience, the target annual salary for this position can range from $173,000 to $218,000 + target bonus + benefits (including medical, dental, vision, 401(k), and flight training).

* Note that Acubed does not offer sponsorship of employment-based nonimmigrant visa petitions for this role.