VP of Programs & Mission Operations

About us
We are EnduroSat! A fast-growing space scale-up at the forefront of satellite innovation, specializing in advanced software-flexible satellites for commercial, governmental, and scientific endeavors.

• This is more than a job, it’s a mission

  We are making space universally accessible and redefining what's possible.

• We get things done

  We take ownership of what we do and we work hard to make a difference.

• We are fearless

  Transparency is our only way forward. We dare to address and resolve issues head-on.

• We learn from our mistakes

  We deliver, take informed risks, and evolve to achieve our goals. We compare with the best version of ourselves

What is the role?

As our VP of Mission & Programs, you will own how EnduroSat's US missions get delivered, flown and operated. Two functions report to you: Program Management, who run execution and are the voice of the program to the customer, and Mission Operations, who operate our satellites in orbit. You are accountable for the outcome those two teams produce together — a mission that makes Space Services seamless to the customer.
You are the gatekeeper of the customer success at EnduroSat US. You will own the relationship from contract award through the end of mission, ensuring beyond any requirements, that the customer gets their data when and how they expect.
You will work as a peer to our VP of Engineering & Chief Engineer, who owns the technology and give you the reality check from the engineering side. That partnership and constant internal challenge is the center of this job. You commit to what the customer needs, they commit to what we can build, and you need to work together to bridge those. An engineering background is critical — enough to read technical documentation, follow a trade, and zoom beyond the requirements into what the customer actually wants to achieve, even if they don’t quite know it yet.

Some of your daily tasks will include
1. Program execution — deliver what we sold

• Own execution across the US program portfolio. Scope, schedule, cost, risk, and delivery from contract award through on-orbit operations.
• Build and defend realistic schedules. Critical path, dependencies, and ownership to make what was committed happen.
• Run the risk discipline. Identify risk early, fund the mitigation, and escalate before it becomes a surprise.
• Own the portfolio view. Where programs compete for the same engineers, test chambers, or cleanroom time, you make the call, you communicate it, and you own the consequence.
• Run the milestone cadence. SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, and launch readiness — scheduled, prepared, and closed out with actions that you can actually sign off on. The Chief Engineer owns whether the design is technically ready; you own getting us to the date and getting the review closed.
• Support capture and proposals with deliverable baselines, schedules, and cost inputs. Responsibility that you can execute what you commit to.
• Own program financial performance. Budgets, forecasts, actuals, variance, and margin. You should be able to explain any program's position without preparing for a week.
• Hire and lead the Program Managers assigned to US programs.

2. Mission Operations — keep what we fly performing

• Own flight operations for the US fleet. Tasking and scheduling, pass planning, payload commissioning, routine health monitoring, and end-of-life.
• Own anomaly response. Set the on-call and escalation model, lead the response when a spacecraft misbehaves, and make sure the finding reaches the procedures, the scripts, and — through the Chief Engineer — the next build.
• Set operational readiness standards. Procedures written and rehearsed before launch, scripts validated, rehearsals run, and no mission reaching LEOP on improvisation.
• Scale operations through systems and automation. Turn what your team learns in the control room into concrete requirements for the SpaceOps mission control suite and hold the line on automation as the fleet grows faster than headcount.
• Own the operational commitments we make to customers. Tasking responsiveness, data latency, reporting — and the evidence that we are meeting them.
• Lead the Spacecraft Mission Operations Lead and their team. Staffing, shift coverage, certification, and a culture where people don’t hide a problem, but own it.

3. Customer ownership and organizational leadership

• Be the senior relationship owner for commercial, civil, and defense customers through the life of a program. Status reporting, executive briefings, and the hard conversations to get them to the finish line.
• Manage change properly. Catch scope growth when it appears, price it, and route it through the Chief Engineer before anyone commits.
• Own the seam with Engineering. Requirements handed over cleanly, technical decisions reaching the program team, and a single reconciled answer going to the customer.
• Define the delivery process for the US business. Reviews, gates, documentation standards, and handoffs at the level each mission requires, without overly bureaucratic processes.
• Take what works from our teams in Europe. Port the playbook where it transfers, redesign it where US customers, contracts, or export control demand something different.
• Hire and develop your team. Give them real authority, hold them accountable for outcomes, and build the bench the US business needs as the program count grows.
   

What do you need?

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or a related engineering field. Master's or MBA welcome
• 12+ years in aerospace or space systems, including 5+ years leading programs or operations, and experience leading other managers rather than only individual contributors
• End-to-end spacecraft delivery. You have taken at least one program from contract award through launch and into on-orbit operations, and you were accountable for the outcome
• On-orbit operations experience. You have been responsible for spacecraft in flight, including anomalies, and you know what separates a mission that is ready to operate from one that is not
• Strong program management rigor. You have owned schedule, budget, and risk on complex hardware programs and can show what that produced — dates held, cost controlled, scope defended
• A customer-facing track record. You have owned a senior program relationship directly, negotiated scope, and delivered bad news without losing the account
• Enough technical fluency to be taken seriously by engineers. You can read a requirements document, follow a design trade, and ask the question that exposes a weak answer. Deep design or R&D experience is not required
• Exceptional written and verbal communication. You can explain the same problem to an engineer, a program director, and a CFO, and be understood by each
• You have carried significant complexity across programs and disciplines, and adjudicated the hard trade-offs that came with it — which program waited, which risk you accepted
• Sound judgment on which decisions are yours, which belong to your leads, and which belong to the Chief Engineer
• Willingness to travel to US and European locations
• Based in the Los Angeles area, or willing to relocate
• US Person status as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.62). This role requires access to export-controlled technical data

Nice to have

• Satellite program experience — nanosat, ESPA-class, or large satellite — and a feel for the cost and schedule reality at that size
• Constellation or multi-mission operations, where automation and fleet-level tooling matter more than per-spacecraft attention
• Both commercial and government customer experience, including familiarity with government contract and compliance requirements
• Experience standing up a program or operations function at a startup or a new site, rather than inheriting a mature one
• Experience in a distributed or international organization, especially US–Europe
• Familiarity with spacecraft environmental test campaigns (vibration, thermal vacuum, EMI/EMC) and launch integration
• Working knowledge of ITAR/EAR
• Familiarity with Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence) and standard scheduling tools
   

Personal skills

• Critical thinking and problem-solving mindset
• A quick learner, proactive, self-starter
• Excellent communication skills
• A team player with a positive attitude
• Comfortable operating with a high degree of ownership in a fast-scaling environment 

What do we offer?

• Health insurance coverage
• Matching 401k plan
• Collaboration with the EnduroSat offices with occasional international travel

This role is based in Los Angeles area, at the center of the largest space and defense cluster in the United States — putting you within reach of our customers, launch providers, and partners across California. The position will be primarily on-site and in person at the office, with occasional travel visiting our headquarters in Europe. 
Salary range: $180,000 - $225,000 per year. The state of Colorado requires listing salary details. The salary will likely be within this range although it may differ based on experience level or other factors.  
At EnduroSat, we embrace diversity and strive to create an inclusive environment where everyone is treated with fairness and respect. We are committed to equal employment opportunities without discrimination against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Additionally, this position is suitable for people with disabilities in accordance with the People with Disabilities National Regulation Act, ensuring accessibility and accommodation in the workplace.