Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Awards
Timeline
Generic

Joseph St James

Lakewood,CA

Summary

Senior Program Manager with 15+ years of experience leading aerospace and defense programs in infrastructure stand-up, lab development, and transition to operations. Managed $150M+ portfolios for the Air Force, Navy, NASA, and Tier 1 aerospace customers. Skilled in guiding development programs from concept to production, reducing lead times, and maturing advanced technologies into operational capabilities. Recognized for program recovery and driving operational excellence across multi-site teams. Active Secret Clearance; proficient in Lean, Six Sigma, and cross-functional leadership.

Overview

24
24
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Senior Development Program Manager

Crane Aerospace & Electronics
09.2024 - Current
  • Manage a $50M portfolio of complex development programs across brake control systems, power conversion, sensing, and electronic systems for commercial and defense customers.
  • Partner with facilities leadership to drive infrastructure design, construction, commissioning, and transition to operations, ensuring cost and schedule commitments are met.
  • Direct cross-functional program teams (engineering, supply chain, and operations) to mature advanced technologies from development into full-rate production.
  • Apply Lean, Six Sigma, and Theory of Constraints principles to streamline program execution, reduce costs, and improve first-time quality.
  • Deliver executive-level communication, strategy-to-action plans, and risk reporting to align programs with corporate objectives and customer expectations.

Sr Program Manager - Program Operations Manager

Raytheon
09.2018 - 03.2024
  • Directed a $150M annual program portfolio spanning advanced radar systems (F-15, F/A-18, B-2, B-52) and NASA instrumentation programs.
  • Oversaw all operations from development through low-rate production, integrating advanced manufacturing, test engineering, supply chain, logistics, quality, and facilities management.
  • Partnered with engineering, operations, and facilities leadership to stand up critical infrastructure and development labs, ensuring readiness for both technology maturation and seamless transition to production operations.
  • Led multi-site cross-functional teams across avionics, software, hardware, and instrumentation programs, ensuring delivery on cost, schedule, and technical baselines.
  • Achieved significant lead time reductions by streamlining manufacturing flow, eliminating bottlenecks, and aligning design, operations, and supply chain teams — accelerating delivery schedules on critical radar and avionics programs.
  • Executed operational recovery projects, restoring performance on at-risk programs; routinely selected by senior executives to resolve high-visibility initiatives.
  • Applied Lean, Six Sigma, RTX CORE, and Theory of Constraints to drive operational excellence, eliminate waste, and improve first-time quality.
  • Delivered executive-level communication and risk reporting to DoD and NASA stakeholders, ensuring transparency on program status and trajectory.
  • Championed creation and streamlining of policies, processes, and procedures, balancing long-term strategy with hands-on daily problem-solving.

Sr Program Manager

Precision Castparts
05.2017 - 09.2018
  • Responsible for controlling $120 million of annual sales in ring forging programs.
  • Forge works include aerospace, space, and nuclear products mainly consisting of combustion liners, cases, seal bearings, forged rings, and petrochemical applications.
  • Oversaw the development and rate ramp up of the LEAP engine forgings.
  • Ensured all contracts complied to government exporting regulations.
  • Drove transaction efficiency within the sales and contract teams.
  • Improved intra-departmental communication between engineering, planning, supply chain, manufacturing, and the customer.

Program Manager

Zodiac Aerospace
04.2011 - 11.2015
  • Managed the development of aircraft interior programs worth around $30 million in sales annually.
  • Managed core design teams in California USA, customized design teams in Sao Paolo Brazil, serial production in Tijuana Mexico, and on-site support in Toulouse France.
  • Successfully completed a 6 month recovery project on site in Toulouse, France cutting final assembly non conformities from 172 to 5 per aircraft.
  • Successfully completed a 6 month recovery project on site in Tijuana, Mexico increasing production of aircraft cabin interior packages from 2 to 10 per month.
  • Utilized Earned Value Management: Divided work packages into the major disciplines, aligned to overall customer demands, and systematically measured earned versus planned value.
  • Followed Project Management Institute Practices: Used Pareto’s Principal and 8 steps of problems solving to continuously improve quality. Used scope control techniques to ensure project met the sponsor’s requirements. Used analogous, parametric, engineered, and actual estimates to ensure continuous monitoring to cost targets.

Qualification/Certification Manager

Qualification/Certification Manager
08.2007 - 04.2011
  • Managed the certification of product development for the Airbus A330, A350, and A380 platforms. Oversaw all validation testing including but not limited to Stress, Windmilling, Life Cycle, Flammability, and other environmental tests.
  • Analyzed and synthesized technical data for certification and quality management.
  • Facilitated communication between the customers, contractors, and the Federal Aviation Authority on development of airworthy hardware.

Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC)

1st Reconnaissance Battalion, USMC
08.2001 - 08.2005
  • Lead a special operations team with two tours in Iraq.
  • Managed over 4 million dollars of special weapons and equipment.
  • Obtained and held a secret clearance.
  • Was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for service overseas.

Education

Bachelor of Science (BS) - Business Administration, Management and Operations

University of Phoenix
01.2010

Skills

  • Program & Portfolio Leadership ($150M)
  • Technical Development and Maturity
  • Infrastructure Stand-Up & Lab Development
  • Transfer to Production Low-Rate & High-Rate Ramp-Ups
  • Executive & Stakeholder Communication

Certification

  • Project Management Professional - PMP
  • Earned Value Management
  • CORE Principle Manager

Awards

Presidential Unit Citation, Raytheon RStars

Timeline

Senior Development Program Manager

Crane Aerospace & Electronics
09.2024 - Current

Sr Program Manager - Program Operations Manager

Raytheon
09.2018 - 03.2024

Sr Program Manager

Precision Castparts
05.2017 - 09.2018

Program Manager

Zodiac Aerospace
04.2011 - 11.2015

Qualification/Certification Manager

Qualification/Certification Manager
08.2007 - 04.2011

Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC)

1st Reconnaissance Battalion, USMC
08.2001 - 08.2005

Bachelor of Science (BS) - Business Administration, Management and Operations

University of Phoenix

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