Office Manager

Sophia Space • Pasadena, CA

7d • $65,000 - $95,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Sophia Space is hiring an Office Manager to run the day-to-day operations of its Pasadena office and lab, where engineers are building Athena, the company’s first computer to fly in orbit. The role owns package and freight receiving, order and receipt records, supply readiness, facilities coordination, onboarding logistics, and inventory support so engineers can focus on hardware. The Office Manager will establish clear, scalable processes for work currently handled informally by engineers and managers.

The position reports to the VP of Finance and works closely with Engineering and IT. It is fully in-person at the Pasadena, California office five days a week during set business hours. The role may involve access to technology subject to U.S. export-control laws; applicants may need to qualify as a U.S. Person under applicable ITAR and EAR regulations. Sophia Space uses AI tools and agents across engineering and operations and expects employees to use them to work faster and better.

Requirements

• 3–5 years of experience running day-to-day office or site operations with little day-to-day supervision.
• Hands-on shipping and receiving experience, including carrier business accounts such as FedEx and UPS and freight deliveries.
• Experience using a spend-management or procurement tool, such as Ramp, Brex, or Coupa, to track purchases or confirm receipts.
• Experience following purchasing and receiving procedures and maintaining accurate records and documentation.
• Strong organization and follow-through, including closing the loop on packages, requests, and vendor issues.
• Clear written and verbal communication with engineers, vendors, and Finance.
• Comfort with spreadsheets and shared online tools.
• Comfort using AI tools in day-to-day work and interest in adopting AI assistants and agents, with sound judgment about their strengths and limitations.
• Ability to work on-site five days a week during set business hours.

Nice To Haves

• Experience establishing shipping, receiving, or supply processes at a growing startup.
• Experience with physical inventory or asset counts, or an asset-tracking tool.
• Familiarity with export-controlled (ITAR/EAR) or hazardous-material shipments, such as lithium batteries.
• Experience coordinating office moves, buildouts, or facilities projects.
• Experience coordinating new-hire setup with an IT team.
• Demonstrated experience applying AI tools and agents, such as LLM assistants like Claude, to operations work, including order tracking, drafting vendor messages, or automating routine tasks.
• Experience in an aerospace, defense, hardware, laboratory, or manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

• Receive, inspect, and log inbound packages and freight; match deliveries to purchase orders and order lines; confirm receipts in the spend-management system, including partial shipments; attach packing slips or delivery proof; report shortages, damage, or incorrect items to Finance and the requester the same day; and route items to requesters the same day.
• Prepare outbound shipments and manage carrier business accounts, including FedEx, UPS, and freight.
• Record vendors’ promised ship dates, follow up within two business days when orders have not shipped and weekly on critical-path items, send Finance a weekly open-order report, flag stalled orders, and maintain accurate receipt records for purchase closeout.
• Keep office, kitchen, and lab consumables stocked within budget; set reorder points and place routine orders; follow company card policy; submit receipts and coding on time; and report monthly supply spending against budget.
• Serve as the first contact for building management and facilities vendors; coordinate repairs, deliveries, and service visits; keep shared spaces, meeting rooms, and storage areas organized and safe; route facilities invoices to Finance; collect certificates of insurance from on-site vendors; and flag landlord charges to Finance. Do not sign contracts or service agreements.
• Coordinate with IT to prepare desks, badges, and equipment handoffs for new hires; greet visitors and candidates; and support on-site events.
• Support baseline and recurring counts of equipment and key parts using systems provided by IT and Engineering; tag equipment above the company’s capitalization threshold; maintain the asset register with Finance; and report disposals, losses, and transfers.
• By the last business day of each month, confirm all receipts in the spend-management system and provide Finance with a list of items received but not yet invoiced.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed