Director of Mission Management

Job description

At Reflect, you will be expected to move fast, have a lot of ownership and, most importantly, be able to effect change. If this excites you, we are interested in hearing about your best work and accomplishments across any domain and from any points in your life. ABOUT THE ROLE Reflect Orbital is hiring a Director of Mission Management to build and lead the function responsible for moving our spacecraft from mission planning to orbit. You will own Reflect’s company-wide launch and regulatory strategy while remaining directly involved in the execution of our most important missions. You’ll coordinate launch opportunities, regulatory approvals, spectrum access, launch-provider integration, mission schedules, and external deliverables across an increasingly ambitious constellation roadmap. This is a hands-on leadership role. You will build the team and operating system required to support repeated launches, but you will also personally step into the details, resolve critical blockers, and ensure every mission is ready when the launch vehicle is. RESPONSIBILITIES - Own mission management across Reflect’s spacecraft portfolio, including launch planning, launch-provider integration, regulatory execution, external deliverables, launch campaigns, and mission readiness - Build the integrated launch and regulatory roadmap required to support Reflect’s spacecraft-production and constellation-deployment plans - Develop launch strategies that balance schedule, orbit, cost, capacity, technical compatibility, regulatory readiness, and program risk - Own senior relationships with launch providers, launch integrators, regulatory agencies, outside counsel, spectrum coordinators, and other critical mission partners - Lead launch-opportunity evaluation and support launch-service contracting, negotiations, and manifest decisions in partnership with engineering, finance, and legal - Own Reflect’s FCC and spectrum strategy, including licensing pathways, modifications, technical exhibits, coordination, milestone compliance, reporting, and engagement with outside counsel and regulators - Ensure each mission has a credible integrated schedule, clear ownership, complete external deliverables, active risk management, and an objective definition of launch readiness - Establish the operating system for mission management: integrated schedules, deliverable trackers, document control, readiness reviews, risk reviews, decision logs, escalation paths, and post-mission lessons learned - Translate company and constellation objectives into executable mission plans across engineering, manufacturing, test, flight software, GNC, operations, policy, and business teams - Identify portfolio-level launch, licensing, spectrum, and integration risks early and drive the decisions or investments required to resolve them - Lead mission-readiness reviews and provide leadership with a clear, unvarnished assessment of schedule, regulatory status, external dependencies, and residual risk - Build and lead a high-performing mission-management team as launch cadence increases, with clear ownership across individual missions and shared regulatory or launch functions - Personally take ownership of the highest-risk external interfaces, negotiations, submissions, and mission blockers - Create repeatable processes that improve reliability and visibility without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy IDEAL QUALIFICATIONS - You have 8+ years of experience in spacecraft mission management, launch integration, launch services, regulatory affairs, satellite program management, or a closely related field. We care more about repeated mission ownership than years. - You have personally taken multiple spacecraft missions through launch-provider integration, regulatory approval, launch readiness, and launch - You have deep familiarity with launch-provider processes, mission integration schedules, spacecraft data packages, safety reviews, interface requirements, launch campaigns, and readiness reviews - You have strong working knowledge of FCC spacecraft licensing and spectrum coordination and can lead the process effectively alongside technical experts and outside counsel - You have managed multiple missions, launch opportunities, or regulatory workstreams simultaneously and understand how to prioritize across a portfolio - You have built a team, function, or operating system in an environment where the organization was growing faster than its existing processes - You can move fluidly between constellation-level strategy, executive decisions, partner negotiations, detailed schedule reviews, and correcting an incomplete submission - You have enough technical fluency to challenge assumptions, recognize missing analysis, and ensure technical deliverables actually answer the requirement - You communicate exceptionally well with regulators, launch providers, engineers, attorneys, executives, and commercial partners - You are comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and can distinguish between manageable execution risk and a genuine threat to the mission - You operate with urgency, follow through relentlessly, and create accountability without producing process for its own sake - You are willing to remain deeply hands-on rather than delegating the underlying mission work before the organization is ready Even if you don’t meet 100% of the above qualifications, we are likely still interested in hearing from you. Hiring exceptional individuals is our #1 priority, and we believe that exceptional people often have highly unusual backgrounds. We are also interested in carving out unique roles for unconventional people that we are excited about working with. BENEFITS Reflect Orbital’s success will hinge on our team, which is why our compensation and benefits plan is designed to reward our employees and support their families as generously as we’re able. - Broad choice of medical/dental/vision coverage, Reflect covers 100% of each base-policy - Access to HSA, FSA, and 401K - Unlimited paid time off, two-weeks per year encouraged - Healthy lunches provided daily EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Reflect Orbital is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Reflect Orbital is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status. More about Reflect Orbital: Learn more about our team here. https://www.reflectorbital.com/team