Senior Project Manager - Maritime Defense Technology

About Pole Star Defense:

Pole Star Defense is a leading provider of maritime domain awareness, maritime security, and fisheries monitoring systems to the government sector. Since 1998, we have pushed the limits of innovation, mitigating growing threats to ships, supply chains, cargo, territorial waters and, most importantly, safety of lives at sea and beyond. Today, we continue to develop and implement pioneering intelligence technologies to protect customer vessels, people, maritime domain, and reputation.

The Opportunity:

Pole Star Defense is seeking a Senior Project Manager to independently execute federal programs within our PMO. This role bridges two disciplines, requiring equal depth in federal compliance (ATO coordination, government reporting, and deliverable tracking) and Agile execution (sprint cadences and backlog management). Beyond program delivery, you will help scale the PMO by establishing organizational standards, planning templates, and handoff procedures.

The ideal candidate brings proven experience in federal government contracting, Agile methodologies, and excels at managing internal and external stakeholder relationships. We are seeking a proactive leader who will take the initiative to mature our PMO processes.

Responsibilities:

Program Delivery

• Own program delivery, milestone tracking, critical path analysis, and contract timelines (periods of performance, modifications, and option exercises.
• Maintain the risk register to proactively resolve issues and shield delivery teams from requirements volatility
• Monitor program budgets, burn rates, and resource allocation in coordination with Finance.
• Coordinate delivery across multiple internal departments without direct organizational authority

Backlog, Priorities, and Agile Delivery

• Shape and sequence the backlog to ensure sprint content and workflows align directly with contract commitments.
• Partner with product and engineering to translate customer intent into prioritized user stories with explicit acceptance criteria.
• Participate in sprint ceremonies to provide engineering teams with critical contract and customer context
• Leverage velocity and throughput metrics to predict timelines, manage scope creep, and inform customer reporting.

Government Customer Interface

• Act as the daily PMO point of contact for the government program office to deliver status updates, release timelines, and risk disclosures.
• Manage the Authority to Operate (ATO) lifecycle with InfoSec and the customer’s ISSO, including artifacts and continuous monitoring.
• Manage incoming customer requests, translate them into internal work packages, and prevent unauthorized scope creep.

PMO Standards and Function Building

• Author and improve scalable PMO standards, templates, intake procedures, and program handoff documentation.
• Maintain project plans, schedules, and compliance documentation under strict version control in the PMO repository.
• Contribute program and past-performance content to proposals and RFP responses.

Required Skills:

• 6+ years of tech/software project management experience; 3+ years supporting federal government contracts and program offices.
• Deep Agile/Scrum fluency (as PM, PO, or Scrum Master) with a proven track record of managing backlogs, sequencing work, and balancing sprint flexibility with fixed contract deadlines.
• Demonstrated end-to-end program ownership, including independently managing schedules, risk registers, and fluid customer relationships.
• Knowledge of federal contract mechanics (mods, PoP) and security compliance workstreams (ATO/RMF).
• Strong cross-functional leadership and communication skills to brief both technical teams and government stakeholders.
• Mastery of project management tools like Jira, Confluence, or MS Project

Additional Skills:

• Experience with FedRAMP or DoD Impact Level (IL2 through IL4) cloud environments from a delivery or compliance coordination perspective
• Familiarity with both front-end and back-end software development and an understanding of cloud architecture (AWS)
• Related experience in the maritime technology industry

Education/Certifications:

• Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Management, Engineering, or related field or equivalent work experience.
• PMP or PgMP certification
• Agile certification such as CSM, PSM, or CSPO, or any other related certification

Employee Benefits:

Pole Star offers benefits that are designed to lead an evolving marketplace and

encourage a healthy balance between work and life. Highlights of those benefits are listed below:

• Medical insurance for employees and their dependents (Premiums are 100% covered by the Company)
• Dental and Vision insurance for employees and their dependents (Premiums are 50% covered by the Company)
• Life and Disability insurance, Company funded
• 20 days annual leave
• 5 days of Wellbeing leave
• Up to a 5% 401k matching
• Gym membership subsidy
• PTO for Volunteer Day
• Refer-a-friend recruitment bonus

Work Schedule Note:

While this position is scheduled for a traditional Monday – Friday work week, our systems run 24/7/365 and as such, you may be expected to perform out of hours, on-call support on an as needed basis. Additional compensation may be available for working on-call, on standby, or during holiday hours.

This is a Public Trust position and requires completion of a State and Federal Criminal History Report (i.e., background check) as well as an FBI Summary History Report. Current and future employment will be contingent upon satisfactory completion of both the Criminal History Report and the FBI Summary History Report.

This position requires use of or access to information subject to the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) or the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). Accordingly, all applicants must be U.S. persons within the meaning of these regulations. Under ITAR, a U.S. person is defined as a U.S. Citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident, or a person who is a protected individual under the immigration and Naturalization Act (8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)).

Pole Star USA is a U.S. Government contractor and is an Equal Opportunity Employer including disability and veterans.

This job description may not be inclusive of all assigned duties, responsibilities, or aspects of the job described, and may be amended at the sole discretion of the Employer