Mission Operations Manager II / III

Firefly Aerospace•Cedar Park, TX

21d

About The Position

Firefly Aerospace is seeking an experienced Mission Manager to manage mission programs and activities for its spacecraft, including lunar landers and/or orbital vehicles. Activities may include payload integration, launch vehicle integration, customer mission integration, and other mission management work. The role is suited to someone with aerospace hardware systems, integration, test, and launch experience. The Mission Manager interfaces with Firefly engineering disciplines and external organizations, including the FAA, USAF, NASA, NOAA, and commercial customers. The successful candidate serves as the primary engineering and programmatic interface between Firefly engineering teams and NASA or other payload customers; manages mission performance and interface requirements; and develops and maintains payload-to-spacecraft Interface Control Documents. The role coordinates technical issues and hardware/software activities from integration and testing through launch and mission operations, leads customer technical meetings and design reviews, and works with engineering disciplines to develop acceptable safety factors and test plans that meet Range and Mission Assurance requirements. Some travel may be required (less than 10%). The posting describes two levels, Mission Manager II and Mission Manager III, with differing experience and knowledge expectations. Both require a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering or a related field and experience integrating payloads or spacecraft. The III level calls for at least five years of aerospace industry experience and advanced knowledge of relevant standards; the II level calls for at least three years and basic working knowledge. Candidates must meet U.S. Government space technology export-control eligibility requirements: be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations. Firefly is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering or a related field.
Experience integrating payloads or spacecraft.
Mission Manager II: at least 3 years of experience in the aerospace industry.
Mission Manager III: at least 5 years of experience in the aerospace industry.
Mission Manager II: experience working with an external aerospace customer or internal product team.
Mission Manager III: experience serving as the primary interface with an external aerospace customer or internal product team.
Mission Manager II: basic working knowledge of aerospace qualification and acceptance testing defined by GEVS.
Mission Manager III: advanced working knowledge of aerospace qualification and acceptance testing defined by GEVS.
Mission Manager II: basic working knowledge of AFSPCMAN 91-710, MIL-STD-882, RCC-319-14, and NASA Standards 8719.13.
Mission Manager III: advanced working knowledge of AFSPCMAN 91-710, MIL-STD-882, RCC-319-14, and NASA Standards 8719.13.
Able to communicate effectively and clearly present technical approaches and findings to peers, management, and external customers.
Mission Manager III: excellent written and oral communication skills.
Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Nice To Haves

Experience integrating payloads onto spacecraft or spacecraft onto launch vehicles.
Experience with spacecraft deployment mechanisms, robotics, or actuators.
Experience working with vendors.
Experience writing proposals and in business development.
Experience with risk management and change control.

Responsibilities

Act as the primary engineering and programmatic interface between Firefly engineering teams and NASA and other payload customers.
Manage development and coordination of key mission performance and interface requirements.
Build and maintain Interface Control Documents for interfaces between customer payloads and spacecraft.
Manage technical issues concerning payload form, fit, and function, including loads, dynamic environments, thermal, EMI/EMC, radiation, contamination, mass properties, mechanical and electrical interfaces, data interfaces, software APIs, and operations.
Coordinate hardware- and software-related activities, including fit checks, spacecraft integration, spacecraft acceptance testing, and launch and operations planning and execution for the full mission duration.
Lead technical interchange meetings and design reviews with NASA and other customers.
Work with Firefly engineering disciplines to generate and evaluate acceptable analysis factors of safety and test plans that meet Range and Mission Assurance requirements.