Space Systems Technical Project Manager

About the role

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company that owns and operates the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform. We provide satellite imagery, automated analytics, and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets, and events globally. This position is critical to the BlackSky’s Internal programs team, focusing on the design, buy, build, test lifecycle within the structures subsystem, from early concept and requirement definition through hardware receipt and readiness for vehicle integration. It also involves ownership of launch verification and test campaigns.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the full scope of design, buy, build, and test within the structures subsystem and launch verification and test campaigns, managing both internal and external efforts
• Develop integrated plans and schedules, obtaining buy-in from key engineering, program management, procurement, and production stakeholders
• Own daily tasking and deconfliction of activities within areas of responsibility
• Support task management for the engineering team including, risk, and integrated schedule management for the program for key subsystem development of the satellite and key hardware
• Interface with the engineering teams to evaluate compliance with the specification and opportunities to improve the subsystem to benefit business and schedule performance
• Track action items and schedules across engineering teams, including maintaining accurate logs of design release status
• Coordinate with the procurement team to support ordering and receipt of build to print parts in support of the broader build schedules
• Align timeline for testing, analysis, and qualification to support structural evaluation of components
• Drive technical communications with the larger technical teams and engineering leadership to shape the development framework to support test, qualification, and launch planning
• Shepard the engineering team through key milestone reviews including, but not limited to, Preliminary Design, Critical Design, Test Readiness, and early production deliveries
• Support supply chain in understanding engineering changes, performance, and key dependencies for supplier test and delivery schedules
• Support the entire development lifecycle for optimization and identify design and decision gates along with developing the associated criteria
• Support qualification testing, testing review, and set up, as well as own the programmatic timeline for component testing
• Manage reports and support development of standard documentation with respect to satellite qualification and flight testing
• Interface with the full system level schedule and identify key milestones to manage risk
• Support development of launch schedules and planning for launch campaigns
• Facilitate and become an expert in satellite site testing including developing training material for other team members

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in an engineering discipline or equivalent experience
• Three years of direct Project Management Experience or related experience
• Experience working on projects involving significant mechanical and wire harness part design and complex systems with hardware and integrated software dependencies
• Highly skilled at MS project and managing schedules with critical dependencies
• Experience working with integrated product teams
• Experience with JIRA
• Experience managing budgets and resource planning
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 25% to support supplier activities and launch

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with aerospace structures design and manufacturing projects
• Possess strong team leadership and inter-team cooperation and organization skills
• Experience with software systems and management of software development efforts
• Experience presenting information to external customers a plus
• Hardware and test lab experience a plus

Life at BlackSky

Life at BlackSky for full-time benefits-eligible employees includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability, group term life and AD&D, voluntary life and AD&D insurance
• BlackSky pays 100% of employee-only premiums for medical, dental and vision and contributes $100/month for out-of-pocket expenses!
• 15 days of PTO, 11 Company holidays, four Floating Holidays (pro-rated based on hire date), one day of paid volunteerism leave per year, parental leave and more
• 401(k) pre-tax and Roth deferral options with employer match
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Employee Assistance and Travel Assistance Programs
• Employer matching donations
• Professional development
• Awesome swag

Compensation

The anticipated salary range for this level of candidate in Washington is $105,000-125,000 per year. The final compensation package offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on specific background and education. BlackSky is a multi-state employer, and this pay scale may not reflect salary ranges in other states or locations outside of Washington.