Modern avionics programs contend with escalating complexity driven by concurrent safety certification, cybersecurity compliance, and multi-standard regulatory demands. Traditional program management approaches treat risk management as a parallel support function rather than a central governance mechanism, resulting in reactive responses that fail to prevent cost and schedule erosion. This paper introduces the Risk-Driven Program Management Framework (RD-PMF), an eight-phase governance model that embeds quantitative risk assessment, standards-risk mapping across DO-178C, DO-326A, ARP4754A, and ARP4761A, real-time digital dashboards, and earned value management within core program decision-making. The framework integrates probabilistic schedule analysis using Monte Carlo simulation with continuous risk exposure monitoring to enable proactive, data-driven governance. RD-PMF is demonstrated through a representative avionics program scenario modelled on a flight control system development effort with a 24-month baseline schedule, $15 million budget, and 27 identified risks. Simulation parameters, informed by the authors’ professional experience in avionics program management and published industry benchmarks, illustrate framework applicability within industry-typical ranges. Five targeted risk mitigation strategies, with a combined investment of $1.27 million addressing certification review delays, requirements volatility, supplier delays, hardware-software integration, and cybersecurity threats, reduced aggregate risk exposure by 77 percent (64.7 to 15.1 schedule-weeks). The demonstration yields an 11 percent schedule performance index improvement (SPI: 0.88 to 0.98), a 6.5 percent cost performance index improvement (CPI: 0.92 to 0.98), schedule variance reduction from 8.0 to 1.2 weeks, and a 2.5-month acceleration in projected completion. Return on investment analysis shows 2.22x gross (1.22x net) on mitigation spending, with total quantified benefits of $2.82 million. These results illustrate a measurable shift from reactive program control to proactive, risk-informed governance suited to next-generation aerospace development programs.