Director of Mission Management

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE

As an end-to-end space transportation company, Firefly Aerospace is on a mission to enable our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

The Director of Mission Management and their team are the primary interfaces for launch vehicle customers across the Alpha and Medium Launch Vehicle. Mission Managers are simultaneously the systems engineer for the launch vehicle + payload stack, assure regulatory and licensing compliance, contract authors and onsite payload integration support. This gives each Mission Manager the exciting opportunity to see the full life cycle of a launch vehicle and payload program through deployment. The ideal candidate for this Director role has lived that cycle multiple times for DoD, Civil and commercial launches and has a passion for training the future.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Acts as a primary customer interface for business development technical discussions, program implementation, certification, and licensing
• Leads a small team where those individuals own a mission, customer or operating theater
• Supports all Firefly Program Managers in day to day balance of cost, schedule and scope.
• Establishes key vehicle test programs in line with customer requirements and certification programs
• Confirms compliance and updates as necessary the Firefly System Safety Program covering all elements of AFSPCMAN 91-710
• Provides leadership in any company wide critical anomaly investigation
• Leads or supports company key proposals, pricing, schedule and technical solutions
• Leads all mission management activities including initial customer interaction, mission concepts, planning, and terms development and eventual handoff to a dedicated mission manager.
• Extensive Travel for coordination of efforts with teammates, partners, and customers, including international travel.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Required:
  • Minimum BS, but MS or PhD preferred, in technical discipline (mechanical or aerospace engineering)
  • 7+ years’ experience in Systems Engineering of space systems or launch vehicles
  • 3+ years' experience in a Technical management role overseeing a team of engineers
  • In depth understanding of typical NASA and government review, certification, oversight and insight processes
  • Long-standing knowledge and relationships of common US and international customers and vendors
  • Detailed knowledge of Launch Vehicle and spacecraft subsystems and typical documentation for systems-level tasks, such as ICDs, EIDPs, etc.
  • Extensive experience using CAD programs (NX, Catia, etc)
  • Working knowledge of quality standards (AS9100 Certification) and aerospace test standards (SMC-S-016, 91-710, GEVS, and similar)
  • Ability to use MS Office and Atlassian suite (Jira and Confluence)
  • Willing to support long or odd hours for international customers and while on travel, ability to support work in multiple time zones.
  • Eligible for Security Clearance

• Preferred:
  • Working knowledge of CLA, environments and cleanliness standards
  • Experience in developing novel tooling solutions for payload processing
  • Experience flying multiple payloads on a single stack
  • Familiarity with Payload Processing Facility designs and requirements
  • Supported a Part 450 launch vehicle license campaign
  • Active DoD or IC Clearance

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, pet Insurance, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on 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