Senior Mission Operations Manager

Lux Aeterna•Denver, CO

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Mission Operations Manager will take end-to-end ownership of Lux Aeterna’s flights, from getting Delphi-1 to the pad, running it on orbit, and bringing it home. This role spans program execution in the lead-up to launch and mission operations leadership through commissioning, on-orbit, deorbit, reentry, and recovery. Initially, the role involves program management, focusing on the integrated plan, cross-team execution, risk identification, and ensuring the engineering/operations organization is aligned. As launch approaches, the role transitions to Mission Operations Lead, responsible for building the concept of operations, establishing the mission ops team, training console personnel, running rehearsals, and commanding the vehicle in flight. Subsequently, the role will focus on developing Lux Aeterna's fleet flight operations model, including team building and process development for a fleet-based satellite operating model. This position offers significant ownership, the chance to combine program execution discipline with spacecraft flight, and the opportunity to become the leader responsible for all missions.

Requirements

BS in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems Engineering, or equivalent technical field (or equivalent practical experience).
7+ years in aerospace or other high-stakes hardware programs, with a mix of program/project management and operations experience.
Demonstrated ownership of an integrated master schedule on a flight or comparable hardware program (satellite, launch vehicle, aircraft, missile, or critical infrastructure).
Direct experience in a mission operations, flight test, or launch environment including console time, procedure authorship, or flight-director-style real-time decision making in aerospace programs.
Strong technical fluency. Comfortable reading ICDs, requirements, and engineering analyses, and pushing back when the plan and the physics disagree.
Track record of running cross-functional teams without formal authority and getting senior engineers to commit and deliver.
Excellent written communication: procedures, flight rules, status, and exec-level reporting that people actually trust.
High composure under pressure and sound judgment with incomplete information.
Comfort with ambiguity and bias toward action over analysis paralysis.
Ability to operate effectively in fast build-test-iterate environments with high ownership and minimal supervision.

Nice To Haves

Prior tour as a Flight Director, Mission Manager, Mission Director, or Lead Mission Operator on an orbital or reentry program.
Experience standing up a mission ops organization from zero: hiring, training, certifying operators, building the MOC.
Familiarity with reentry, recovery, or asset-return operations (capsule, glider, booster, or experimental vehicle).
Working knowledge of FAA Part 450, range safety, and human-spaceflight-adjacent safety standards (SSCMAN 91-710, AFSPCMAN, NASA STD).
Hands-on with ground-segment / MCC tooling like commanding, telemetry, mission planning, pass scheduling including KSAT or equivalent ground-network experience.
Familiarity with CCSDS, telemetry decom, and ground-segment integration.
Early-stage startup or new-program experience, especially in hardware or deep-tech companies.
Comfort building lightweight systems and processes that scale, without over-engineering them.
Military aviation, test, or operations background welcome in place of or alongside an engineering degree.

Responsibilities

Own the Delphi-1 integrated master schedule, critical path, and external partner deliverables.
Run the program cadence, risk management, and other programmatic processes. Surface issues early and close decisions.
Translate engineering trades, customer ICDs, and FAA/range submittals into actions with owners and exit criteria; run vendor programs end-to-end and keep budget, headcount, and cost-to-complete visible.
Author the Concept of Operations, console procedures, flight rules, anomaly playbooks, and mission timeline — partnering with GNC, FSW, GSW, and Avionics.
Stand up the Mission Operations Center, lead rehearsals, and drive the Flight Readiness and Mission Readiness Reviews.
Hire, train, and certify the mission operations team (internal or external): console operators, flight directors, payload operators. Define the on-call rotation that supports flight.
Serve as Mission Manager / Flight Director from pre-launch through on-orbit and own the call to proceed, hold, or abort, and run real-time coordination with KSAT, SpaceX, the range, customers, and recovery partners.
Lead recovery operations and the post-flight debrief; feed lessons learned into Delphi block upgrades and follow-on missions.