Mission Project Lead

Quindar; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Health & wellness benefits

Comprehensive health insurance

401(k) matching

Company offsite

Job summary

Quindar is seeking a Mission Project Lead to embed with its engineering teams, driving day-to-day execution for U.S. DoD, IC, and Civil missions. You'll surface blockers, track tasking, and ensure milestones align with commitments in a fast-paced environment.

The role emphasizes organized, proactive execution, surface-level prioritization, and close coordination with engineers, product owners, and TPMs to close work against mission objectives.

Qualifications

• Active clearance or ability to obtain a U.S. Government security clearance; Top Secret/SCI eligibility preferred
• 3+ years of experience supporting software engineering, technical programs, mission operations, systems engineering, or a similar execution-focused environment
• Experience working with software development teams and familiarity with iterative/Agile development practices
• Experience with space systems, ground software, or U.S. Government programs preferred
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, dependencies, and deadlines in a fast-moving environment
• Highly inquisitive and detail oriented; able to identify gaps, ask the right questions, and consistently drive open actions and blockers to closure
• Strong written and verbal communication; comfortable coordinating across engineering, product, and program teams

Responsibilities

• Coordinate day-to-day execution within engineering teams against program priorities and milestones
• Maintain visibility into active work, owners, dependencies, due dates, and completion criteria
• Facilitate planning sessions, stand-ups, milestone check-ins, and retrospectives; translate priorities into actionable work
• Identify blockers and drive follow-up with engineering, product, or program stakeholders until resolved
• Track engineering execution against milestones and deliverables; coordinate recovery actions when needed
• Provide concise internal status updates and maintain execution artifacts and documentation

Skills

Security clearance

3+ years exp

Agile development

Space systems

Organization skills

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Job description

What You’ll Be Doing

As a Mission Project Lead, you will be embedded with Quindar’s engineering teams to help drive day-to-day execution of U.S. DoD, IC, and Civil mission efforts. You’ll work closely with engineers, product owners, and Technical Program Managers (TPMs) to keep work organized, surface and resolve blockers, track tasking, and ensure engineering execution stays aligned to program milestones and commitments.

This role is ideal for someone who is highly organized, proactive, and comfortable operating close to the technical work. You will provide the execution discipline and coordination that helps engineering teams move quickly, maintain clear priorities, and consistently close work against mission objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Embedded Mission Execution: Work directly within engineering teams to coordinate day-to-day execution against program priorities, milestones, and near-term objectives
• Task & Progress Management: Maintain visibility into active work, owners, dependencies, due dates, and completion criteria; ensure tasking is current and accurately reflects engineering progress
• Team Cadence & Coordination: Facilitate internal planning sessions, stand-ups, milestone check-ins, and retrospectives; help teams translate program priorities into clear, actionable work
• Blocker Resolution: Proactively identify technical, resource, dependency, and coordination blockers; drive follow-up with the appropriate engineering, product, or program stakeholders until resolved
• Milestone Delivery: Track engineering execution against program milestones and deliverables; identify schedule risk early and coordinate recovery actions with engineering leads and TPMs
• Execution Communication: Provide concise internal status updates on progress, risks, blockers, and upcoming milestones; maintain supporting execution artifacts and documentation as needed

Qualifications

• Active clearance or ability to obtain a U.S. Government security clearance; Top Secret/SCI eligibility preferred
• 3+ years of experience supporting software engineering, technical programs, mission operations, systems engineering, or a similar execution-focused environment
• Experience working with software development teams and familiarity with iterative/Agile development practices
• Experience with space systems, ground software, or U.S. Government programs preferred
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, dependencies, and deadlines in a fast-moving environment
• Highly inquisitive and detail oriented; able to identify gaps, ask the right questions, and consistently drive open actions and blockers to closure
• Strong written and verbal communication; comfortable coordinating across engineering, product, and program teams

Itar Requirements

• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C.
• 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C.
• 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Why you’ll love working at Quindar

• We work in a cutting edge industry and you will get the opportunity to be part of a small team with a large direct impact on the success of our customers’ space missions!
• We take work life balance very seriously. We require employees to take 15 days off but provide unlimited PTO and follow most US federal government holidays.
• Mental health is just as important as physical so we provide quarterly health & wellness benefits.
• Comprehensive health insurance for you and your family with 100% coverage for employees.
• We encourage employees to save for retirement and provide 4% 401(k) matching.
• Each year we have a 4-day company offsite. Previous locations include San Francisco, Nashville, Denver, Santa Fe, New Orleans, San Diego, Bozeman, and New York City.
• Our culture and company is evolving. You will be key in creating the next major or minor version!

Compensation Range: $120K - $160K