Mission Manager (Senior/Principal)

At Reflect, you will be expected to move fast, have a lot of ownership and, most importantly, be able to effect change. If this excites you, we are interested in hearing about your best work and accomplishments across any domain and from any points in your life. ABOUT THE ROLE Reflect Orbital is hiring a Senior or Principal Mission Manager to own the launch and regulatory execution required to get our spacecraft to orbit. This is a hands-on senior IC role working across engineering, operations, legal, launch providers, regulators, and external partners. You’ll own mission schedules, launch-provider interfaces, regulatory submissions, technical deliverables, reviews, action items, and the hundreds of details that must come together on time for a successful mission. Your job is to make sure Reflect never misses a launch or regulatory milestone because an input was late, a requirement was misunderstood, or a critical task lacked a clear owner. RESPONSIBILITIES - Own mission execution from launch-opportunity selection through launch readiness, launch campaign, and handoff to on-orbit operations - Serve as Reflect’s primary interface with launch providers, launch integrators, regulatory counsel, government agencies, and other mission partners - Build and maintain the integrated mission schedule, including external deliverables, regulatory milestones, technical reviews, launch-provider deadlines, dependencies, risks, and internal owners - Own FCC licensing and spectrum-coordination workflows in partnership with engineering and outside counsel, including applications, modifications, technical exhibits, responses, reporting, and other required submissions - Translate launch-provider and regulatory requirements into clear internal deliverables, identify the correct owners, and drive inputs to completion - Coordinate spacecraft data packages, interface documentation, safety materials, analyses, certifications, test evidence, and other launch-readiness deliverables - Review submissions for accuracy, completeness, and consistency before they leave the company - Run mission reviews, maintain action-item and decision logs, follow up relentlessly, and ensure commitments are closed on schedule - Identify schedule, regulatory, and integration risks early; develop recovery plans and escalate decisions before they threaten the mission - Maintain a clear source of truth for mission status so engineering and leadership always understand what is due, what is blocked, and what requires attention - Build lightweight, repeatable systems that allow Reflect to manage an increasing number of spacecraft and launches without unnecessary process or bureaucracy - Support launch-site and campaign activities when needed IDEAL QUALIFICATIONS - You have 5+ years of experience in spacecraft mission management, launch integration, regulatory affairs, technical program management, satellite operations, or a similarly complex aerospace environment. We care more about demonstrated ownership than years. - You have personally owned significant portions of the launch-provider integration or regulatory process for at least one spacecraft mission - You understand how launch manifests, mission schedules, spacecraft interfaces, safety reviews, licensing, spectrum coordination, and launch-readiness reviews fit together - You have experience with FCC spacecraft licensing, experimental licensing, spectrum coordination, earth-station licensing, or similar regulatory processes - You can turn a long, ambiguous external request into a complete list of internal actions, owners, dependencies, and deadlines - You are exceptionally organized and can manage hundreds of details without losing sight of the mission’s critical path - You write clearly, communicate directly, and are comfortable representing the company with launch providers, regulators, attorneys, engineers, and executives - You do not need to be a practicing engineer, but you are technically fluent enough to understand sp…