Senior Program Manager II - Space Sensing & Domain Awareness (TS/SCI)

Description

The company is an end-to-end space business that builds rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems, and it is one of the fast-growing players in the sector.

The Space Systems team has supported more than 1,700 missions, including interplanetary exploration, in-space manufacturing, and national security and defense work. It has built spacecraft, payloads, and components for Moon and Mars missions and works with NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force.

This is a senior program role based at the company's global headquarters in Long Beach, CA. You will be the program authority for advanced optical and infrared sensing payloads.

You will own the technical roadmap and the Make/Buy decisions from early prototype through flight qualification and into scalable production. The work centres on the operational needs of a tracking, warning, and surveillance mission, and you will be the person the program depends on.

Responsibilities

• Lead the team that takes EO/IR sensing payloads and optical systems from concept through qualification, production, and flight.
• Own the technical roadmap and grow the team's core capabilities over time.
• Run several active programs at once, make architecture decisions with Chief Engineers, and work through trade-offs in pointing stability, jitter, sensitivity, and revisit.
• Dig into the problems that most threaten a program, working alongside the team.
• Build a culture where strong people take sensible risks, the best idea wins regardless of source, and an intelligent miss is accepted as the cost of speed. Coach and develop the next generation of program and team leads.
• Manage high-stakes subcontracts and suppliers as strategic partners, protecting schedule and margin.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams across optics, electronics, software, and the data chain, and clear blockers quickly to keep speed and quality high.
• Act as the main contact for assigned U.S. Government tracking, warning, and surveillance customers. Work with BD & Strategy on proposals and technical narratives for the next generation of space domain awareness.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in physics, math, science, or another technical discipline.
• 8+ years of aerospace program management experience.
• A record of owning a technical program, product, or team from start to finish and delivering it under real pressure. Your shipped results count more than your years in the role.
• Proof that you have taken hardware and software from prototype to scalable, flight-ready production.
• A working understanding of EO/IR sensing, optical payloads, or focal plane arrays.
• Experience spotting technical, schedule, or supply-chain risk and removing it before it affects the mission.
• An active TS/SCI clearance.

Conditions

Based at the global headquarters in Long Beach, CA.

The role may involve long periods of sitting, standing, walking, and computer work, plus occasional exposure to moderate noise, dust, and fumes in production areas.

Pay range for California roles: $153,000 - $229,500 USD. Level and base pay are set case by case, based on job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

For U.S. offices only: to meet ITAR and U.S. space technology export rules, you must be a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident, a refugee or asylee lawfully admitted to the U.S., or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or Department of Commerce, as applicable.

For New Zealand offices only: background checks, including nationality checks, are carried out before any offer. You must be eligible to access ITAR-regulated equipment and data. You may be ineligible if you are not a citizen of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the European Union, or a NATO member country, or if you hold ineligible dual citizenship or nationality.

Benefits

• Competitive base pay, plus company stock as part of total compensation.
• Employee Stock Purchase Program with a 15% discount on company stock.
• Medical plans including HMO, PPO, and a zero-cost HDHP with a significant company contribution to the HSA.
• Dental and vision coverage.
• Paid vacation and sick time, plus 11 paid holidays.
• Flexible spending and dependent care accounts.
• Paid parental leave.
• Disability and life insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match.
• Subsidized EV charging, onsite fitness centers where available, discounted gym memberships, complimentary snacks and drinks, a 50% employee discount on the merch store, and other employee discounts.