Senior Mission Manager El Segundo, California,

Low Earth orbit is open for business
. Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules.

From life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics, there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. Varda is accelerating innovation in the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind.

Our team is uniquely suited to accomplishing this goal, with leadership and staff comprised of veterans from Space

X, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with significant backing from world class investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, and Also Capital.

Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, where we have offices and a production facility where our vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested. Varda also has offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL.

Join Varda, and work to create a bustling in-space ecosystem.

Varda supports a wide range of customers from pharmaceutical companies creating new products in microgravity, to government agencies testing new capabilities through hypersonic flight. As a member of the mission management team, you will be responsible for ensuring we deliver on our promises. As a Senior Mission Manager, you will be the primary technical and programmatic interface for our customers and will shepherd missions from cradle to grave -- from before a contract is signed, through development, integration, launch, operations, and recovery of our customer's flown assets.

You will work cross functionally throughout the company to unblock issues for a particular customer or mission and to align resources needed to meet mission objectives.

You will coordinate with Varda personnel to deliver through all phases of mission planning, integration, testing, and verification.

This is a full-time, exempt position located in our El Segundo headquarters.

• Serve as the primary technical and programmatic point of contact for our customers, helping to resolve issues, negotiate requirements and contract changes, communicate status and risks, and ensure a positive outcome for all parties.
• Lead programmatic execution of customer missions from prior to contract signature through development, integration, launch, operations, and recovery of our customer's flown assets.
• Collaborate across the company (e.g. engineering, regulatory, sales, payloads) to understand status and changes that may impact customer success and work to mitigate issues.
• Lead major customer reviews and deliverables, coordinating cross functionally to plan for, develop and deliver high quality materials and briefings.
• Support or lead, depending on the customer, development and verification of technical interface control documents
• Support our Sales team with proposal efforts to ensure new projects are appropriately scoped and aligned with strategic company vision, and that contracts are well-defined and executable.

• 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 and test, launch and/or operations.
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Excellent negotiation, conflict resolution and leadership skills
• Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time
  
  U.S. Citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S. to conform with U.S. Government space technology export regulations under ITAR.

• Master’s degree in an engineering field
• 8+ years of experience working with government, NASA, or commercial launch contract
• Experience with spacecraft mission design,…