Site Acquisition Lead

LeoLabs; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Global remote/hybrid opportunities

Meaningful mission impact

Unlimited PTO

Competitive salary and equity

Comprehensive health, dental, vision

Access to advanced space ops

Job summary

LeoLabs is seeking a Site Acquisition Lead – U.S. to identify, evaluate, secure, and develop radar installation sites across the United States and beyond. You will lead end-to-end site acquisition activities, including feasibility, negotiations, permitting, and coordination with landowners, government entities, and internal teams.

Travel within the U.S. and internationally may be required. The ideal candidate has delivered complex infrastructure or sensor deployment projects in aerospace/defense

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Real Estate, Engineering, Business, Project Management, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience in program management, project management, operations, business development, real estate/site development, site acquisition, infrastructure development, international expansion, or a related field.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams, balancing competing priorities while maintaining momentum, quality, and attention to detail.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate complex, ambiguous, or evolving situations where success depends on external partners, clear documentation, disciplined follow-up, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to distill complex technical, regulatory and commercial information into clear recommendations for stakeholders and leadership.
• Strong attention to documentation quality, recordkeeping, and version control.
• Willingness and capability to travel extensively within the U.S. and globally if required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Personnel Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead site acquisition strategy and execution for radar and sensor installation sites across the U.S. and abroad.
• Identify and evaluate potential sites based on technical, environmental, regulatory, and operational requirements.
• Conduct site feasibility studies in collaboration with engineering, RF, and systems teams.
• Manage negotiations with landowners, utilities, municipalities, and government stakeholders.
• Coordinate permitting, zoning, and regulatory approvals required for site development.
• Partner with engineering and construction teams to ensure site readiness for installation and operations.
• Oversee site due diligence, including access, power availability, data connectivity, and environmental considerations.
• Develop and manage site acquisition schedules aligned with program timelines and deployment milestones.
• Mitigate risks related to land access, regulatory constraints, and deployment delays.
• Maintain strong stakeholder relationships across public and private sectors.
• Manage external consultants, advisors, brokers, surveyors, environmental specialists, RF consultants, utilities, and other technical partners to ensure timely, high-quality deliverables.
• Coordinate closely with LeoLabs stakeholders including Legal, Finance, Engineering, Corporate Affairs and other internal stakeholders to ensure site acquisition activities remain aligned with technical, commercial and program objective.
• In coordination with the broader site acquisition and pre-construction team, develop, maintain, and continuously improve site acquisition processes, templates, checklists, and playbooks to enhance consistency, efficiency and decision quality across the program.
• Maintain comprehensive project documentation, including decision records, version-controlled files, and supporting documentation for auditability and knowledge retention.
• Prepare clear executive updates, documenting key decisions, risks, recommendations, and next steps for leadership and program stakeholders. Support long-term site portfolio planning and expansion strategy.

Skills

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Written communication

Project management

Travel readiness

Security clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Real Estate/Engineering/Business

Job description

At LeoLabs, we’re building theliving map of activity in space.Through our proprietary global radar network and AI-enabled analytics platform, we collect millions of measurements daily on more than 25,000 objects in low Earth orbit (LEO).Our radar-powered intelligence protects billions in assets, monitors adversarial behavior, and ensures safe operations for commercial and government missions.

We’re not just building technology, we areredefining global security, safety, and transparency in space. As orbital activity accelerates and threats grow more complex, LeoLabs is atrusted partner for Space Domain Awareness, Space Traffic Management, and Satellite Operations for top-tier space operators and allied defense organizations.

If you're looking to work on mission-critical challenges at the forefront of aerospace, national security, and AI, your impact starts here

LeoLabsis seeking aSite Acquisition Lead – U.S.toidentify, evaluate, secure, and develop sites for advanced radar installations across the United Statesand globally. This role will lead end-to-end site acquisition efforts, including site identification, feasibility assessments, negotiations, permitting, and coordination with landowners, government entities, and internal engineering teams. This role requires alignment with global team collaboration needs. This position requires the candidate to be located within the Pacific or Mountain time zones to support effective collaboration with LeoLabs’ Australia-based team members.

The ideal candidate has experience delivering complex infrastructure, real estate,or sensor deployment projects in aerospace, defense, telecommunications, or similar mission-critical environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead site acquisition strategy and execution for radar and sensor installation sites across the U.S. and abroad
• Identifyand evaluate potential sites based on technical, environmental, regulatory, and operational requirements.
• Conduct site feasibility studies in collaboration with engineering, RF, and systems teams.
• Manage negotiations with landowners, utilities, municipalities, and government stakeholders.
• Coordinate permitting, zoning, and regulatory approvalsrequiredfor site development.
• Partner with engineering and construction teams to ensure site readiness for installation and operations.
• Oversee site due diligence, including access, power availability,dataconnectivity, and environmental considerations.
• Develop and manage site acquisition schedules aligned with program timelines and deployment milestones.
• Mitigate risks related to land access, regulatory constraints, and deployment delays.
• Maintain strong stakeholder relationships across public and private sectors.
• Manage external consultants, advisors, brokers, surveyors, environmental specialists, RF consultants, utilities, and other technical partners to ensuretimely, high-quality deliverables.
• Coordinate closely with LeoLabs stakeholders including Legal, Finance, Engineering, Corporate Affairs and other internal stakeholders to ensure site acquisition activitiesremain aligned with technical, commercial and program objective
• In coordination with the broader site acquisition and pre-construction team, develop,maintain, and continuously improve site acquisition processes, templates, checklists, and playbooks to enhance consistency,efficiencyand decision quality across the program.
• Maintain comprehensive project documentation, including decision records, version-controlled files, and supporting documentation for auditability and knowledge retention.
• Prepare clear executive updates, documenting key decisions, risks, recommendations, and next steps for leadership and program stakeholders.Support long-term site portfolio planning and expansion strategy.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Real Estate, Engineering, Business, Project Management, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience inprogram management, project management, operations, business development, real estate/site development, site acquisition, infrastructure development, international expansion, or a related field.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams, balancing competing priorities while maintaining momentum, quality, and attention to detail.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate complex, ambiguous, or evolving situations where success depends on external partners, clear documentation, disciplined follow-up, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Excellent written communication skills, with the ability to distill complex technical, regulatory and commercial information into clear recommendations for stakeholders and leadership.
• Strong attention to documentation quality, recordkeeping, and version control.
• Willingness and capability to travel extensively within the U.S. and globally if required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Personnel Security Clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with government agencies, military installations, or classified programs.
• Experience managing complex, multi-site acquisition or deployment programs.
• Familiarity with remote or environmentally complex site development.
• Knowledge of utility coordination and infrastructure requirements (power, fiber, communications).
• Experience managing external vendors, consultants, and civil engineering partners.
• Experience developing templates, playbooks, dashboards, or other tools that improve repeatability and program execution.
• Experience supporting classified infrastructure or secure site development programs.
• Experience working with regulatory, zoning, and permitting processes.
• Ability to interpret technical requirements and translate them into site selection criteria.
• Active U.S. Secret or Top Secret Personnel Security Clearance.

Perks and Benefits

• Global workforce: flexible remote/hybrid opportunities
• Work on complex, meaningful missions with real-world impact
• Unlimited paid time off for most roles
• Competitive salary and equity packages
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• Access to the forefront of commercial space operations and defense innovation

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identify, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.