Engineering Operations Director

Iridium Satellite, LLC•Tysons, VA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

If you are an experienced operational leader who excels at bringing clarity, structure, and strategic discipline to complex engineering organizations, then you will be excited about the Engineering Operations Director position with Iridium! In this role, you will lead the operational backbone for a diverse hardware, software, and systems development portfolio, ensuring that teams can focus on delivering high‑quality, reliable, and scalable solutions that advance Iridium’s evolution and long‑term roadmap. Your main focus will be to guide operational planning and execution across multiple engineering teams, partnering closely with senior leaders, technical experts, cross‑functional stakeholders, and financial partners, as well as defining operaional standards, knowledge-management practices, and data governance that strengthen engineering execution. If you take pride in simplifying complexity, aligning stakeholders, and enabling teams to deliver at their best, this is a great opportunity for you.

Requirements

BS degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field
15+ years of related experience in engineering operations, technical leadership, or program‑aligned execution roles
Demonstrated ability to lead multi‑disciplinary operational frameworks across hardware and software environments
Experience with cost and schedule estimation, including ROM development and structured forecasting models
Strong understanding of engineering lifecycles, configuration control, and technical decision‑making workflows
Expertise in knowledge‑management, document‑control systems, and data governance practices
Demonstrated ability to develop roadmaps, operational strategies, and long‑term execution models
Familiarity with Agile concepts and modern engineering practices
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present information, drive discussion, and respond to difficult scenarios with limited preparation across all employee groups
Capable of being a strong motivator and source of direction for your team and exemplifying commitment to your team’s goals
Have a people-oriented mentality and actively promote cross-functional team building
Able to confidently drive discussions, raise support for key ideas, and tailor your communication style to a wide range of audiences
Possess the creativity, resourcefulness, and decisiveness needed to manage risks and respond to critical situations
Have a strong sense of urgency in driving projects to completion and be motivated to achieve outcomes and results
Excellent prioritization skills and the ability to effectively coordinate the activities of multiple groups
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Nice To Haves

Understanding of telecom or satellite communication systems and protocols
Knowledge of lifecycle maintenance best practices and operational readiness models
Training or certification in Agile methods such as Scrum or Kanban
Experience improving or designing engineering workflows and process frameworks
Familiarity with supply chain or manufacturing interfaces

Responsibilities

Lead operational planning and alignment across a myriad of software, hardware, and related technical teams
Oversee staff planning and resource visibility to ensure clear understanding of workload, capacity, and availability
Develop and maintain cost and schedule estimation frameworks to support both early‑phase planning and initiative approval
Coach engineering staff in building clear task lists, structured work breakdowns, and reliable scoping materials
Establish and maintain organizational priority frameworks that communicate near‑term focus and long‑term direction
Lead quarterly and monthly operational reviews and create executive‑ready communication that highlights progress, risks, and trade‑space decisions
Oversee budgeting and forecasting processes for multi‑initiative engineering portfolios; translate engineering activity into financial insight
Build strong partnerships with internal finance, accounting, and operational support teams to align planning and reporting
Develop and enforce data‑management standards, including repository structure, access control, archival workflows, and knowledge‑management practices
Promote scalable, secure, and sustainable operational processes that support engineering effectiveness and product evolution
Translate business needs into operational frameworks, decision models, and communication packages
Collaborate with cross‑functional partners to drive organizational readiness for supply‑chain or manufacturing‑related workflows as the scope expands
Advocate for continuous improvement, efficiency gains, and workflow simplification across engineering operations
Communicate priorities, dependencies, and decisions clearly to technical and non‑technical stakeholders
Evaluate operational metrics and use data to guide improvements in predictability, quality, and delivery performance
Partner with finance teams and translate complex engineering work into budget‑aligned plans