{"id":4094038,"url":"https://alion.io/job/bluestaq-program-director","title":"Program Director","company":{"id":669314,"name":"Bluestaq","domain":"bluestaq.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/bluestaq","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":null},"role":"Product","role_family":"Product","seniority":"head","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Colorado Springs, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":250000,"max":350000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":350000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":14,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":true,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-11T15:59:31Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-11","last_verified_at":"2026-11-11T20:48:58Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":0,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":0},"description":"Why This Role Matters\nBluestaq’s programs are the proof: real contracts, real customers, real impact on the mission. The Program Director owns that portfolio end to end: the person who makes the hard call early, clears what’s in the way, and keeps programs moving forward. You’ll lead a portfolio spanning national security space missions and allied coalition programs, and the Program Managers, Portfolio Managers, and Product Owners who run it. You coach them to run their programs and lead their teams well. As a peer to Growth, Engineering, and Program Operations leadership, you keep everyone pulling in the same direction through alignment, not authority. Every program is different, and your job is to meet each one where it is: give every PM clear direction, real backup when it matters, and the judgment to know when to step in and when to get out of the way. AI is part of how we work here. You use it yourself, and you bring your team along. And when the playbook doesn’t fit, you build a better one. Creative problem-solving is how we work.\nKey Responsibilities\nSet direction for the portfolio and make the call early, before analysis turns into delay.\nTell your team what you know, what you don’t know yet, and when you’ll know more. Keep the information moving; that’s how trust is built here. Explain the why behind changes, especially the ones you didn’t choose.\nFace problems directly, with customers, your team, and leadership. Early, honest conversations keep trust intact.\nSpot delivery risk early (resourcing, technical debt, cross-team dependencies) and clear it so programs stay on schedule.\nGive your team air cover: back their good bets and defend their judgment up the chain.\nMake AI part of how your programs work: reporting, status tracking, cost and schedule tracking, backlog tools. Model it yourself, and bring your Program Managers, Portfolio Managers, and Product Owners along.\nSpend your first 60 days learning each program. Every program is different, so let what you learn shape how you lead it.\nOwn execution of Bluestaq’s full program portfolio: plan it, coordinate it, deliver it, and review it regularly against budget, schedule, and contract deliverables.\nBe the visible leader in high-stakes customer conversations. Build trust that holds under pressure, and make it stronger with every interaction.\nCoach your team members so they can run their own programs and teams well: real feedback, and the authority to act on it.\nHold a high bar and keep your team energized, not exhausted. High standards, high trust.\nBuild shared playbooks for how programs plan, report, and escalate, and standardize where it helps each program run better.\nConnect programs that share opportunities or overlapping work, especially across engineering and product, so good ideas spread instead of staying siloed.\nMake sure every program has real financial forecasting and cost visibility, so leadership always knows where spend stands.\nPartner with the Contracts Lead, Finance, and your Program and Portfolio Managers to keep contract documentation current: contracts, subcontracts, NDAs, Teaming Agreements, mods, and CPAR responses.\nPartner with the Growth Team on RFIs, proposal input, and pursuit strategy for existing programs. Growth leads capture; you bring the program insight and customer access.\nPartner with the Program Operations Director on cross-program process and tooling, and with the Engineering Director on delivery alignment and technical risk.\nBrief the executives ahead of customer and stakeholder engagements, and keep leadership current on program performance.\nFind subcontractors and delivery partners who make the portfolio more resilient.\nOwn hiring, training, time charging, performance, and advancement for your team.\nRequired Qualifications\n14+ years leading complex, high-stakes Defense and Intelligence Community programs.\nWorking knowledge of US government acquisition: FAR/DFARS, funding cycles, and contract types.\nComfortable owning high-pressure customer escalations and rebuilding trust for follow-on work.\nStrong in front of customers: able to brief and connect with audiences from engineers to senior executives.\nProven mentor to Program Managers: direct feedback and real coaching, not just oversight.\nDecisive under ambiguity. Makes the call early instead of letting it sit.\nDirect, frequent communicator. Explains decisions, including the ones you didn’t make, instead of letting silence fill the gap.\nAbility to travel up to 20%.\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience scaling programs from prototype to sustainment at a federal contractor or similar.\nExperience with military and civilian space community.\nExperience with international partner programs (manning, time zone, and control considerations).\nRequired Experience and Education\nBachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, systems engineering, business administration or a related field and 14+ years of Program Management and Systems Engineering experience, OR\nAssociate degree in a related field and 18+ years of combined military or civilian analysis/operations experience, OR\nHigh School Diploma/GED and 26+ years of combined engineering and space operations experience.\nSalary Range (US)\n$250,000—$350,000 USD\nClearance Requirement: This position may require an active TS/SCI Clearance. Current clearance holders are strongly encouraged to apply. If you don't currently hold one, Bluestaq will sponsor eligible candidates through the clearance process based on program needs.\nRelocation: Relocation assistance is available for full-time positions.\nAbout Bluestaq\n At Bluestaq, we build secure data platforms that matter for space missions, national defense, healthcare systems, and commercial innovation. Founded in 2018, we've become a leader in enterprise software and secure data management by staying focused on what counts: modern architecture, operational excellence, and mission impact.\nWe're engineers, problem-solvers, and builders who take the mission seriously, but not ourselves. We automate the repeatable, question the status quo, and design systems that are as reliable as they are scalable. Whether we're supporting space, defense systems, or healthcare advancements, we build with the same principles: cloud-native solutions, security by design, and relentless simplicity.\nWhat We Offer:\nFor full-time positions\n100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision for you and your dependents\nUp to 6% match to 401(k) contributions with additional discretionary 4% profit share on day one. Roth options available; no vesting period.\nEvery role is eligible for an annual performance bonus\n$200,000 employer-paid life insurance, plus short- and long-term disability coverage\n$5,000 annual professional development budget per employee\n20 days PTO, plus 8 paid holidays\nPet insurance, onsite gym, and flexible schedule\nBluestaq is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We prohibit unlawful discrimination against applicants or employees on the basis age 40 and over, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, military or veteran status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by state or local law.\nBluestaq will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities and employees whose work requirements interfere with a religious belief unless doing so would result in an undue hardship to Bluestaq or a direct threat. Employees needing such accommodation are instructed to contact Human Resources immediately at .\nApplications will be accepted for 60 days beyond the posting date, or until the position is filled, whichever comes first.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7683,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":14,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"high_school","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Flexible schedule","Life insurance","Professional development","Relocation assistance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Data Marketplaces, Sharing & Clean Rooms"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-11T20:48:58Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":0,"expected_fill_days":88,"reasons":["conf:0","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-11-11T21:26:51Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":350000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/bluestaq-program-director","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/bluestaq-program-director.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-11T21:26:51Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":42109,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-12T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":669314},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=669314"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fbluestaq-program-director"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fbluestaq-program-director"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fbluestaq-program-director"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/bluestaq-program-director\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fbluestaq-program-director"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":4094038}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"bluestaq.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":4094038},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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