Advanced Navigation is the world’s most determined innovator in AI robotics and navigation technologies across land, air, sea and space applications. Founded on a culture of research and discovery, Advanced Navigation's mission is to be the catalyst of the autonomy revolution. Fields of expertise include artificial intelligence, underwater sonar, GNSS, radio frequency systems, inertial sensors, robotics, quantum sensors and photonics.
Today, Advanced Navigation is a supplier to some of the world's largest companies, including Airbus, Boeing, Google, Tesla, NASA, Apple, and General Motors. Discover it for yourself: https://youtu.be/F7uAqs1gtuk
Role Purpose
The Program Manager of Global Expansion is the primary delivery leader for Advanced Navigation’s physical scaling. This role is responsible for driving the complex work packages required to enable the company’s global growth agenda, specifically the transition from an Australian-based supply model to a resilient, multi-hub manufacturing ecosystem.
You are accountable for the successful execution of global work packages, facility acquisitions, and the operational implementation of a fit-for-purpose ERP system to support international growth.
The mandate includes the end-to-end Program Management of:
US & UK Center of Excellence (CoE) establishment: delivering the roadmap for facility acquisition, setup, and operational readiness to meet the regional market requirements.
ERP Transformation Project: Leading the cross-functional program to implement a global Enterprise Resource Planning system that serves as the operational backbone for multi-hub growth.
While the role operates through Matrix Influence rather than direct reports, you are accountable for coordinating activities across R&D, Manufacturing, Legal, Finance, and Go-to-Market. Success in this role requires a high-tenacity leader who can navigate ambiguity, remove bottlenecks, and ensure we enable the business to scale at the speed of our global mission.
Role and Responsibilities
- Program Governance: develop and maintain the detailed master work plan for our strategic expansion phases
- ERP Strategy: partner with external consultants to lead the RFP/RFQ process and subsequent global implementation of a unified ERP system to serve as the company's digital backbone.
- Global footprint delivery: manage facility acquisitions and the establishment of US and UK Centers of Excellence (CoE), ensuring operational readiness for defense-market requirements.
- Roadblock removal: actively coordinate global resources (Finance, P&C, Engineering, Legal) to identify and eliminate bottlenecks in the expansion timeline.
- Stakeholder management: provide high-level updates to the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and the Board on program milestones, risk mitigation, and budget adherence.
- Safety & values: live and breathe a safety culture, ensuring all global expansion activities and new facility setups remain 100% compliant with HSE requirements and AdNav values.
Behavioral attributes for succes:
- Execution and planning: the ability to translate high-level vision into actionable plans, setting global priorities to deliver outcomes efficiently.
- Operational decision making: analyzing information from multiple global sources and stakeholders to commit to decisive action under pressure.
- Influencing others: communicating with high impact and empathy to gain acceptance of expansion strategies across diverse regions and functions where you lack direct authority.
- High-Tenacity delivery: a relentless focus on "getting it done"—navigating ambiguity and removing obstacles to meet critical phase deadlines.
- Geopolitical sensitivity: a disciplined understanding of Sovereign Resilience and Country of Origin (COO) requirements within a defense-adjacent context.
Qualification and experience:
- Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) or Business; Program Management certification (PMP/MSP) is highly regarded.
- Experience: 10+ years of progressive experience in Program Management, with a proven track record of enabling global hubs, international manufacturing operations, or multi-site expansions.
- Systems & Skills: expert-level knowledge of ERP tools (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics, SAP) and a deep understanding of TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) modeling.
- Regulated environments: extensive experience operating within highly regulated environments, such as Defense or Aerospace, with familiarity in ITAR or AUKUS-aligned frameworks.
- Commercial Acumen: strong experience in contract negotiation, facility acquisition, and managing multi-million dollar program budgets.
