As lead Program Manager for Northrop Grumman’s F-22 repairs line, I ran a multi-year, multimillion-dollar effort to maintain and repair advanced avionics for Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force. The hardware was software-defined radios and power amplifier modules. The job combined technical delivery, contract negotiation and direct profit-and-loss accountability, and I held a security clearance throughout.
Running the line
I directed execution of the radio and power amplifier module repairs, keeping engineering, production and logistics aligned across internal teams and outside partners. On top of the repair work itself, the program carried full lifecycle management for several new development efforts. Those were capabilities that did not exist yet and had to be built while the existing line kept delivering.
The customer relationship
I was the primary interface with Lockheed Martin, responsible for technical delivery and weekly performance reporting. I also worked directly with customers across several external agencies to manage expectations and report status and cost, and supported multiple program-level audits from outside agencies.
Winning the follow-on
Using past actuals and a hands-on sense of what the work genuinely cost, I built the estimates, wrote the proposal, and negotiated directly with the customer to win a $25M five-year follow-on repair contract. It secured long-term revenue and meaningfully expanded the program’s footprint.
Reporting up
I reported Earned Value Management, schedule performance and program profitability to Northrop Grumman VP leadership. Accurate forecasting was the job. On a repair line, an optimistic schedule quietly becomes a cost problem two quarters later.
Leading the teams
The program ran on engineering skill sets pulled from across disciplines. I led those teams to hit repair timelines, reduce operational bottlenecks, and keep output quality steady over a multi-year effort.