Senior Principal Mission Manager - Launch & Regulatory Lead

Reflect Orbital; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/dental/vision coverage

HSA/FSA/401K

Unlimited PTO

Healthy lunches

Job summary

Reflect Orbital is seeking a Senior or Principal Mission Manager to own the launch and regulatory execution required to get our spacecraft to orbit. This hands‑on senior IC role works across engineering, operations, legal, launch providers, regulators, and external partners to ensure timely schedules, deliverables, and successful missions.

Your job is to ensure Reflect never misses a launch or regulatory milestone because inputs arrive late, requirements are misunderstood, or critical tasks lack

Qualifications

• 5+ years in spacecraft mission management, launch integration, regulatory affairs, or similar aerospace PM roles.
• Experience owning launch-provider integration or regulatory processes for at least one spacecraft mission.
• Understanding of launch manifests, mission schedules, safety reviews, licensing, and spectrum coordination.

Responsibilities

• Own mission execution from launch‑opportunity through launch readiness and handoff to on‑orbit operations.
• Serve as primary interface with launch providers, regulators, legal, government agencies, and mission partners.
• Build and maintain the integrated mission schedule with external milestones and internal owners.
• Own FCC licensing and spectrum‑coordination workflows with engineering and outside counsel.
• Translate requirements into clear internal deliverables, identify owners, and drive inputs to completion.
• Coordinate spacecraft data packages, interface documentation, safety materials, analyses, and test evidence.
• Review submissions for accuracy, completeness, and consistency before they leave the company.
• Run mission reviews, maintain action‑item and decision logs, and ensure commitments are closed on schedule.
• Identify schedule, regulatory, and integration risks early; develop recovery plans and escalation paths.
• Maintain a clear source of truth for mission status so teams know what is due and what is blocked.
• Build lightweight, scalable processes to manage more spacecraft and launches without excess bureaucracy.
• Provide support for launch‑site and campaign activities as needed.

Skills

Mission management

Launch integration

Regulatory affairs

Program management

Cross-functional collaboration

Technical fluency

Job description

Reflect Orbital is seeking a Senior or Principal Mission Manager to own the launch and regulatory execution required to get our spacecraft to orbit. This hands‑on senior IC role works across engineering, operations, legal, launch providers, regulators, and external partners to ensure timely schedules, deliverables, and successful missions.

Your job is to ensure Reflect never misses a launch or regulatory milestone because inputs arrive late, requirements are misunderstood, or critical tasks lack