Program Specialist Government & Defense

About Us

Mercedes-Benz North America Corporation is a US subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and operates as a holding company for Mercedes-Benz Group entities in the United States. It provides services to subsidiaries in areas including Treasury, Tax, Accounting, Corporate Communications, Government Relations, Legal, and Human Resources.

Job Overview

As Program Specialist, Government and Defense, you will be the operational backbone of Mercedes-Benz North America's newly established Government and Defense business team. Reporting to the Head of Business Development, Government and Defense, you will interface with MBUSA, MB AG, and other Mercedes-Benz entities in North America and at headquarters. You will own the team's internal operating rhythm, including budget tracking, purchase order management, weekly synchronization meetings, and cross-entity coordination.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the BD team's primary interface with MBUSA, MB AG, and other Mercedes-Benz entities.
• Track spending against approved budgets, process purchase orders and vendor invoices, coordinate with finance, and flag variances.
• Plan and run weekly synchronization meetings, producing agendas, decision logs, and action-item tracking.
• Organize weekly stand-ups, monthly leadership reviews, stakeholder syncs, and quarterly business reviews.
• Manage timelines and deliverables across workstreams, including milestone tracking, risk registers, and KPI dashboards.
• Align program-management cadence, reporting standards, and milestone frameworks with established Mercedes-Benz practices.
• Provide executive updates on status, risks, and opportunities, and coordinate corrective actions.
• Identify roadblocks and escalate them early.
• Coordinate interns, graduate capstone projects, and outside consultants.
• Support the Head of Business Development with documents, presentations, and administrative needs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Economics, Engineering, Public Administration, International Affairs, or a related field.
• Four to six years of experience in program management, project management, business operations, strategy execution, or a similar role.
• Experience managing budgets, purchase orders, and corporate finance or procurement relationships.
• Strong organizational, communication, presentation, interpersonal, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 and project management tools.
• Ability to operate in a new or early-stage business team and build structured operating processes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Relationships across Mercedes-Benz departments and entities.
• Experience with U.S. government or military contracting, federal sales operations, or federal-services capture support.
• Automotive industry experience.
• German language proficiency.
• Familiarity with AI productivity tools and AI-augmented workflows.
• Experience with strategy execution frameworks and cross-functional team leadership.

Benefits

Benefits include competitive salary, annual and performance-based bonuses, vacation and corporate holidays, an employee lease program, medical, dental and vision insurance, family leave, tuition assistance, retirement benefits, and other employee programs.

Contact

Mercedes-Benz North America Corporation
One Mercedes-Benz Drive
30328 Atlanta
nafta_ssc_recruiting@mercedes-benz.com