Senior Project Manager, Antenna Systems
Job description
About the role
You will own the end to end execution of assigned antenna programs from initial concept through on orbit success, defining scope, schedule, and cost while navigating highly interdisciplinary trade studies. You will partner closely with hardware, software, and mission operations teams to ensure that every antenna decision supports the overall system performance, manufacturability, and testability objectives. You will translate complex system requirements into clear, executable plans that balance technical risk, program constraints, and stakeholder expectations in a fast paced, curiosity driven environment. You will drive rigorous design reviews, fault tree analysis, and corrective action processes that keep programs on track and surfaces the right issues at the right time. You will own critical path management, integrate cross functional inputs, and maintain traceability from high level mission needs down to component level selections. You will act as the central point for program governance, ensuring that decisions, dependencies, and impacts are documented, communicated, and proactively managed across teams. You will lead risk and issue resolution, coordinating with manufacturing, supply chain, and test partners to keep projects moving smoothly toward flight hardware delivery. You will mentor and align a distributed team of engineers and technicians, fostering a culture of ownership, clarity, and continuous improvement across the antenna lifecycle.
Key facts
What you'll do
Define program strategy and roadmaps for assigned antenna initiatives, translating business and mission needs into actionable, time bound objectives with clear milestones.
Develop and maintain comprehensive program plans, including work breakdown structures, schedules, resource plans, and dependency maps that reflect the interdisciplinary nature of antenna systems.
Lead cross functional design reviews, ensuring that mechanical, electrical, RF, thermal, and software perspectives are reconciled and documented before hardware commitment.
Drive requirements traceability from high level mission objectives to detailed component specifications, validating that each change is assessed for cost, schedule, and performance impact.
Own risk and issue management processes, maintaining visibility into technical, supplier, and integration risks, and executing mitigation plans to preserve delivery confidence.
Coordinate with manufacturing and supply chain teams to ensure antenna designs are manufacturable, testable, and scalable, while resolving constraints that could impact production or integration.
Partner with test and operations teams to develop verification and validation strategies, flight hardware test plans, and on orbit commissioning procedures that prove performance against requirements.
Monitor program health using objective metrics, status reporting, and executive dashboards, highlighting dependencies, decisions, and emerging issues to leadership.
Facilitate alignment among stakeholders, balancing competing priorities such as performance, mass, power, and schedule to arrive at pragmatic, defensible trade decisions.
Support strategic sourcing and supplier management for critical antenna components, ensuring technical compliance, cost targets, and long term manufacturability.
Champion continuous improvement initiatives within the antenna systems lifecycle, applying lessons learned from programs to accelerate future development and reduce rework.
Represent Espace in external forums and internal governance bodies as needed, ensuring that antenna strategies remain coherent with broader mission, regulatory, and partnership objectives.
Requirements
Candidates must be a citizen of the United States to obtain the required security clearance.
Candidates must have the ability to obtain and maintain a US Government Public Trust security clearance.
Candidates must be able to pass a US Government background investigation.
Candidates must have a Bachelor's degree in a relevant engineering discipline.
Candidates must have a minimum of 8 years of progressive experience in program or project management within the space, defense, or related high tech sectors.
Candidates must have demonstrable experience managing hardware programs that involve complex mechanical, electronic, and software elements.
Candidates must have a strong track record of delivering programs on schedule and within budget while maintaining high standards of quality and compliance.
Candidates must be comfortable making decisions in a highly ambiguous, fast moving, and interdisciplinary technical environment.
Nice to have
Experience with LEO satellite constellations and IoT payloads is strongly preferred.
Experience with active antenna technologies, phased arrays, or RF front end integration is strongly preferred.
Experience with regulatory and spectrum related issues is strongly preferred.
Practical notes
This role may require occasional travel up to 25 percent.
This role is eligible for Espace sponsored visa sponsorship.
This role is not eligible for relocation assistance.
This role is not eligible for remote or hybrid work.
This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship for roles outside of listed locations.
This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship for new joiners who will be based in Arlington, TX.
This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship for new joiners who will be based in Saratoga, CA if they are not already authorized to work in the United States.
Employment in the United States is contingent upon successful completion of a minimum of 3 years of continuous service on the sponsored visa.
This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship for new joiners who will be based in Arlington, TX.
This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship for new joiners who will be based in Saratoga, CA if they are not already authorized to work in the United States.
This role is not eligible for remote or hybrid work.
This role is not eligible for relocation assistance.
This role may require occasional travel up to 25 percent.
This role is eligible for Espace sponsored visa sponsorship.
Employment in the United States is contingent upon successful completion of a minimum of 3 years of continuous service on the sponsored visa.