Director, Space Infrastructure

Loft Orbital Solutions•Golden, CO

18h

About The Position

Loft Orbital is building a new leadership role to take full ownership of Space Infrastructure across our growing fleet. This is a high-impact position responsible for the reliability, scalability, and long-term evolution of our satellite and network operations. You will define strategy, lead execution, and grow the teams and systems that keep our satellites operating at scale. With full accountability for infrastructure availability and customer mission SLAs, you will translate operational insight into company-level strategy, automation roadmaps, and product improvements. If you are excited by owning complex, distributed systems in a fast-scaling space environment - and leading teams through high-stakes decision-making - this role is for you. About the Role: Own Loftâs Space Infrastructure, including satellite connectivity (ground stations, ISL, network infrastructure) and Space Ops Coordination (SatDevOps) Define and drive the long-term strategy and roadmap for scalable, automated fleet operations Lead and develop Flight Directors, SatCons, and Space Infrastructure teams, including capacity planning, training, and career development Own infrastructure availability and reliability SLAs, ensuring customer missions are rarely impacted by infra issues Drive incident management, anomaly triage, post-incident reviews, and long-term corrective actions Increase automation and abstraction layers to reduce manual operations and operator-driven anomaly resolution Lead DevOps-style deployment and testing improvements to enable faster, safer software releases across the fleet Oversee global network operations and external partnerships (e.g., ground station providers) Serve as the primary cross-functional interface for Software Solutions, Onboard Software, Systems Engineering, Product, and Customer Delivery on space infrastructure topics Ensure operational constraints are integrated early into program lifecycles and product architecture Define, track, and communicate KPIs to leadership and customer-facing teams; drive data-informed reliability improvements Contribute to long-term system architecture and explore forward-looking infrastructure evolution

Requirements

8+ years of experience leading satellite operations, space infrastructure, ground systems, or large-scale distributed technical systems
Strong technical grounding in at least one of: satellite operations, network infrastructure, software systems, or DevOps - with the ability to lead across all
Demonstrated success scaling operations to support fleet growth
Proven track record improving reliability and resilience of complex systems
Experience owning incident response, anomaly resolution, and operational process design
Ability to deliver against multi-quarter roadmaps while balancing near-term operational demands with long-term automation goals
Strong cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to translate technical trade-offs to executives and stakeholders
Comfort making high-stakes decisions in time-critical, information-limited environments
Experience leading and developing multidisciplinary teams

Nice To Haves

Experience operating in a high-growth or rapidly scaling space company
Experience managing external vendors and strategic infrastructure partnerships at scale
Exposure to regulatory and compliance environments relevant to satellite operations (FCC, international licensing, spectrum coordination, etc.)
Background spanning satellite operations, systems engineering, software development, and DevOps
Experience strengthening training programs and reducing baseline operational knowledge through automation
Experience influencing product and architecture decisions through operational feedback loops
Experience leading distributed or international teams.

Responsibilities

Own Loftâs Space Infrastructure, including satellite connectivity (ground stations, ISL, network infrastructure) and Space Ops Coordination (SatDevOps)
Define and drive the long-term strategy and roadmap for scalable, automated fleet operations
Lead and develop Flight Directors, SatCons, and Space Infrastructure teams, including capacity planning, training, and career development
Own infrastructure availability and reliability SLAs, ensuring customer missions are rarely impacted by infra issues
Drive incident management, anomaly triage, post-incident reviews, and long-term corrective actions
Increase automation and abstraction layers to reduce manual operations and operator-driven anomaly resolution
Lead DevOps-style deployment and testing improvements to enable faster, safer software releases across the fleet
Oversee global network operations and external partnerships (e.g., ground station providers)
Serve as the primary cross-functional interface for Software Solutions, Onboard Software, Systems Engineering, Product, and Customer Delivery on space infrastructure topics
Ensure operational constraints are integrated early into program lifecycles and product architecture
Define, track, and communicate KPIs to leadership and customer-facing teams; drive data-informed reliability improvements
Contribute to long-term system architecture and explore forward-looking infrastructure evolution