Senior Mission Manager

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical and programmatic point of contact for customers, managing requirements, contract changes, and risk communication.
• Lead programmatic execution of customer missions from pre-contract through development, integration, launch, operations, and recovery.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, regulatory, sales, and payload teams to mitigate issues impacting mission success.
• Lead major customer reviews and deliverables, coordinating the development of high-quality briefings and materials.
• Support the development and verification of technical interface control documents.
• Assist the Sales team with proposal efforts to ensure projects are appropriately scoped and executable.

Requirements

• Must possess and be able to maintain an active U.S. Top Secret security clearance.
• Bachelor's degree or higher in an engineering or science discipline.
• 7+ years of Program or Project Management experience.
• Experience with US Government contracts and program execution.
• Experience with spacecraft mission design, development, integration, test, launch, and/or operations.
• U.S. Citizen or lawful permanent resident (to conform with ITAR regulations).
• Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in an engineering field.
• 8+ years of experience working with government, NASA, or commercial launch contracts.
• Full spacecraft mission project lifecycle experience (cradle-to-grave).

Benefits

• Equity in a fully funded space startup with potential for significant growth.
• 401(k) matching.
• Unlimited PTO.
• Health insurance, including Vision and Dental.
• On-site lunch and snacks daily, with dinners provided twice a week.
• Maternity and Paternity leave.

About the Company

Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind by creating the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth.