Head of Flight Dynamics, Amazon Leo

About the role

The Head of Flight Dynamics is the single‑threaded leader responsible for orbital maneuvering, orbital safety, and orbital performance across Amazon Leo's current and future satellite constellations. This role directly impacts service reliability for millions of customers worldwide through safe, precise on‑orbit operations and industry‑leading space safety practices. You will lead an organization of engineers, research scientists, and software developers building the algorithms, end‑to‑end ground system products, analysis tools, and infrastructure that enable safe and precise operation of Leo satellites at constellation scale. You will also lead special Flight Dynamics programs including GNSS independence, space traffic coordination services, and space situational awareness. The position requires U.S. citizenship, permanent residency, or lawful refugee/asylee status due to export‑control regulations.

Responsibilities

• Own the Flight Dynamics roadmap and technical strategy, including forward‑looking initiatives that enable Amazon Leo to deliver a best‑in‑class customer experience and leadership in orbital safety.
• Build, lead, and develop a high‑performing organization of engineering managers and senior individual contributors; hire and grow top talent and foster a culture of innovation, operational excellence, and customer obsession.
• Own and lead the architecture, development, and deployment of resilient ground software services and infrastructure that manage safe orbital maneuver operations of Amazon Leo satellites — ascent, station keeping, collision avoidance, and end‑of‑life descent for re‑entry.
• Own and lead the development of algorithms for orbit determination, trajectory planning and guidance, and high‑fidelity orbit modeling and prediction.
• Collaborate closely with GN&C and Mission Operations to enable safe, autonomous on‑orbit satellite operations that integrate seamlessly with Flight Dynamics ground systems.
• Deliver products needed by stakeholders for spacecraft design, constellation planning, and operations — including launch targets and launch‑window assessments for launch and mission management teams.
• Provide leadership oversight and direction to the GNSS independence and space situational awareness programs.
• Lead the development of metrics, monitoring, and response systems that leverage physical modeling and ML/AI to automate analysis of data from thousands of satellites for closed‑loop assessment and improvement of on‑orbit performance.
• Initiate and lead operator‑to‑operator collaboration for orbital safety, and partner with regulatory and legal teams to promote adoption of best practices in space safety across the industry.
• Own Flight Dynamics system risks and drive mitigations to minimize impact; manage program schedules and drive on‑time delivery with support from technical program managers, balancing operational support against development efforts.
• As a key voice in on‑orbit operations, work with Mission Operations and peer leaders to influence efficiency, safety, performance, and simplicity for customers.

Basic Qualifications

• Master's degree in engineering, physics, or equivalent.
• 10+ years of people‑management experience, managing engineers.
• Demonstrated experience leading spacecraft flight dynamics and mission design teams, including managing senior individual contributors and managers.
• Strong fundamentals in orbital mechanics, mission and trajectory design, state estimation, and orbital environments and perturbations.
• Experience with orbital maneuver design and implementation using low‑thrust electric propulsion systems.
• Experience managing complex, large‑scale satellite engineering programs and delivering products on time.
• Proven ability to influence technical direction and drive consensus across multidisciplinary organizations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Highly organized; knowledge of tools such as Jira, Confluence, SharePoint, Git, etc.
• Experience with Java, C++, or other programming languages, as well as R, MATLAB, Python, or equivalent scripting languages.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in aerospace engineering, astronautics, or a related field.
• Experience with large satellite constellation operations.
• Strong mathematical background with experience in numerical computation, probability, and statistics.
• Knowledge of adjacent spacecraft subsystems, particularly GN&C and Propulsion.
• Experience with software development workflows and engineering management.
• Experience with conjunction assessment, collision avoidance workflows, and regulatory compliance (FCC/FAA).

Compensation

Base salary range: $208,300 – $281,800 USD annually (United States, Washington, Redmond). The total Amazon package includes sign‑on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation is determined based on experience, qualifications, and location.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription).
• Basic Life & AD&D insurance with optional supplemental life plans.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and mental health support.
• Medical Advice Line.
• Flexible Spending Accounts.
• Adoption and surrogacy reimbursement coverage.
• 401(k) matching.
• Paid time off and parental leave.