Mission Manager (Starshield)
Hawthorne · USD 155,000-200,000 · 2+ years experience · Posted Oct 10, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 2+ years experience
- Location
- Hawthorne
- Salary
- USD 155,000-200,000 · Base salary
About the role
- As a member of the Mission Management team, you will serve as a core point of contact for customers from early capabilities studies through successful launch and on-orbit activation.
- You'll support new business proposals from initial requirements verification through mission design, prototype development, and test.
- You will serve as the main technical and programmatic point of contact for a given customer and coordinate internal SpaceX personnel to support all phases of mission planning, integration, testing, and verification.
Responsibilities
- Lead all programmatic aspects of programs, from contract award through integration, test, launch, and on-orbit operations to ensure all contract requirements are met.
- Support proposal efforts to align new efforts with long-term strategic vision and engineering objectives, and to ensure contract requirements are executable.
- Be the primary point of contact for your customer, to resolve issues, negotiate requirements, coordinate technical and contractual changes, and maintain positive relationships.
- Plan and lead customer reviews through cross-company coordination, developing and briefing technical content on complex designs, trade studies, risks, and issues.
- Collaborate with product engineering groups to understand vehicle readiness and how changes impact requirements, vehicle risk, CONOPs, and launch dates.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in an engineering or science discipline.
- 5+ years of experience in program management, project management, systems engineering, or operations.
- 2+ years of experience with US government projects or acquisitions.
- Must pass DoD level background checks for entry into various government facilities.
- Ability to travel up to 25% of the time.
- Active Top Secret or TS/SCI clearance, or the ability to obtain one
Preferred qualifications
- 8+ years of experience in program management or project management.
- Experience working with launch vehicles, spacecraft, or other aerospace systems.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding start-up atmosphere.
- Experience with spacecraft mission design, development, integration, and/or test experience.
- Experience with management or program leadership experience.
- Strong penchant for innovation in process improvement and system design.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with direct experience negotiating technical deliverables or scope.
- Strong interpersonal skills, and an ability to tailor communications to the audience.
Benefits
- Long-term incentives, in the form of company stock or long-term cash awards
- Potential discretionary bonuses
- Ability to purchase additional stock at a discount through an Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage
- Access to a 401(k) retirement plan
- Short and long-term disability insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid parental leave
- 3 weeks of paid vacation
- 10 or more paid holidays per year
Workplace
- Ability to travel up to 25% of the time.
