Engineering Business Manager (L2, PM-04)

About the Role

Sophia Space is a venture-backed deep technology company building high-performance, energy-efficient computing systems designed to operate in orbit. Athena is Sophia Space's first hardware mission to space—a complex, fast-moving program where business discipline turns ambition into on-schedule, on-budget delivery. As Business Manager for Athena, you are the financial and contractual backbone of the program office, working closely with the Program Manager to ensure cost, schedule, and contracts align with technical progress. You will own the program's business execution, including budget, integrated schedule, earned-value management, and the full lifecycle of commercial and government contracts. This high-visibility role sits at the center of Sophia Space's most important near-term mission, with opportunities to grow into full ownership of the program's business function. The organization leverages modern AI tools to accelerate cost and schedule analysis, contract review, and reporting, enabling faster execution while maintaining clarity on tool limitations.

Location & Eligibility

This position is primarily in-person in Pasadena, California, with occasional hybrid flexibility based on business needs. The role may require access to technology subject to U.S. export-control laws (ITAR/EAR), and applicants may need to qualify as a U.S. Person (e.g., U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or protected individuals under applicable law).

Responsibilities

• Budget & Financial Management: Own the Athena budget, including work breakdown structure, baseline management, and budget-at-completion. Lead monthly cost performance reviews with variance analysis, coordinate with Finance on actuals and forecasting, and manage estimate-at-completion while flagging overruns.
• Schedule Management: Develop, baseline, and maintain the Integrated Master Schedule with engineering, operations, and supply chain teams. Track milestones, assess schedule risk, and apply Earned Value Management to tie schedule performance to cost.
• Contracts & Subcontract Management: Serve as the day-to-day contracts interface, administer FAR/DFARS-compliant subcontracts and government task orders, support proposals and negotiations, and maintain CDRLs and period-of-performance tracking. Coordinate with Legal on NDAs, IP, and contract changes.
• Program Operations & Reporting: Prepare cost, schedule, risk, and contract briefings for internal and customer audiences. Maintain program-control documentation, gather integrated status across teams, and support the risk and opportunity register with quantified impacts.

Requirements

• Program business management, program control, or project management experience in aerospace, defense, or space.
• Demonstrated cost and schedule management on hardware development programs.
• Proficiency with program scheduling tools (e.g., MS Project, Primavera, or equivalent).
• Working knowledge of FAR/DFARS, government contract types (CPFF, FFP, T&M), and subcontract administration.
• Experience developing and presenting cost performance reports, variance analyses, and estimate-at-completion forecasts.
• Strong spreadsheet and financial-modeling skills; comfortable working with large datasets.
• Clear written and verbal communication—able to translate financial complexity into a clear program narrative.
• Comfortable using AI tools in day-to-day work, with sound judgment about their strengths and limitations.
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Engineering Management, Systems Engineering, or a related field.

Desired Skills

• Commercial-space startup or first-of-kind hardware mission experience.
• Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS) familiarity and ANSI/EIA-748 compliance.
• NASA or DoD program support with CDRLs and contract data deliverables.
• PMP or equivalent certification.
• Experience applying AI tools (e.g., LLM assistants like Claude) to program-controls work, such as cost/schedule analysis, contract review, or reporting.
• Proficiency with program-management and collaboration tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence).
• Cross-functional work with supply chain and hardware engineering teams.

Pay

The pay range for this role is $125,000–$155,000 USD per year (Pasadena, CA).