Senior Program Manager - Satellite Production

Telemetry Today LLC; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 188,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Competitive benefits package

Stock options

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Job summary

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Program Manager I to own high-volume satellite production programs from prototype to flight. You will set rate, yield, unit cost, and strategic decisions, leading teams across manufacturing, supply chain, and engineering while guarding schedule and margins.

The role requires ownership mindset, the ability to navigate design-for-manufacturing trade-offs, and experience delivering complex hardware and software in space-grade environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in physics, math, science, or other technical discipline.
• 5+ years of program management experience.
• Proven track record of owning a technical program, product, or team end to end under pressure.
• Experience moving hardware and software from prototype toward high-rate production with quantified gains.
• Understanding takt time, line-of-balance, design-for-manufacturing, and learning-curve economics.
• Experience identifying tooling, supply-chain, or yield risk and neutralizing it.
• U.S. citizenship with ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Command the Lifecycle: lead satellites from concept through qualification, full-rate production, and flight, owning the technical roadmap for core capabilities.
• Lead multiple active programs, make architectural calls with Chief Engineers, and address line-threatening problems with the team.
• Build the bench: foster a culture of bold, data-driven decisions and develop future program and team leaders.
• Forge the supply chain: manage key subcontractors and suppliers as strategic partners to protect schedule and margin.
• Unblock excellence: align cross-functional teams and remove roadblocks to maintain speed and quality.
• Influence the future: be primary contact for assigned constellation operators and define narratives with BD & Strategy.

Skills

Program management

Hardware experience

Design-for-manufacturing

Takt time

Line-of-balance

Risk management

Security clearance readiness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in physics, math, science, or technical discipline

Tools

Jira

Confluence

ERP/MRP

Job description

Rocket Lab in Long Beach, CA seeks a Senior Program Manager I to own high-volume satellite production programs from prototype to flight. You will set rate, yield, unit cost, and strategic decisions, leading teams across manufacturing, supply chain, and engineering while guarding schedule and margins.

The role requires ownership mindset, the ability to navigate design-for-manufacturing trade-offs, and experience delivering complex hardware and software in space-grade environments.