Strategy & Operations Manager

Front Door Defense; Redwood City (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

Health, dental, vision

401(k) with company match

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Array Labs is seeking a Strategy and Operations Manager to be the first dedicated operations hire, reporting to the COO. You’ll own the infrastructure that keeps the company running, build processes as you go, and shape the function in a fast-growing startup environment.

You’ll design lightweight workflows, partner with Engineering, Marketing and Peopleops, manage vendor relationships, onboarding, events, and travel, and drive scaling by creating practical solutions in ambiguity.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of operations experience at an early-stage startup.
• Broad operational experience spanning work with vendors, facilities, people ops, and cross-functional coordination.
• Strong organizational instincts with the ability to juggle competing priorities.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity with minimal direction.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day operations for Array Labs.
• Design and implement lightweight internal processes and systems.
• Standardize core workflows to reduce friction as the team grows.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Marketing and the Chief of Staff to guide decision making in operational tooling and infrastructure.
• Augment people operations, including onboarding, off-boarding, policy documentation, and benefits coordination.
• Own vendor relationships and procurement, from sourcing and contract negotiation to ongoing supplier management.
• Manage event and travel logistics for customer office visits, candidate on-site interviews, conferences, demos, and company offsites.
• Contribute creative operational solutions to complex and ambiguous technical problems.

Skills

Operations experience

Vendor management

Cross-functional coordination

Organizational instincts

Ambiguity tolerance

Job description

Strategy & Operations Manager

Build and scale Array Labs' operational infrastructure as the first dedicated Operations hire.

Location: Redwood City, California

Compensation: $120,000 - 170,000 USD / year

About The Role

Strategy And Operations Manager

Array Labs is building the world's most advanced earth observation satellites. We're developing a coordinated fleet of radar satellites that creates a continuously updated, high-resolution 3D view of the Earth, in any weather, day or night. Our goal is to give government and commercial organizations a faster, clearer picture of a changing world, allowing them to act with greater speed, confidence, and precision.

Array Labs is looking for an Strategy and Operations Manager to be the first dedicated Ops hire on a small, fast growing team. You'll report directly to the COO and own the infrastructure that keeps the company running. There's no playbook, so you'll have the chance to shape the function, building out processes as you go. This is an individual contributor role for someone who is comfortable operating in ambiguity without structure. You'll be expected to identify areas for improvement, prioritize needs without direction, and have the judgement needed to move quickly to make things happen.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day operations for Array Labs
• Drive foundational improvements that help scale our operation, including: designing and implementing lightweight internal processes and systems, standardizing core workflows to reduce friction as the team grows
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (e.g., Engineering, Marketing) and with the Chief of Staff to guide decision making in operational tooling and infrastructure
• Augment people operations, including onboarding, off-boarding, policy documentation, and benefits coordination
• Own vendor relationships and procurement, from sourcing and contract negotiation to ongoing supplier management
• Manage event and travel logistics for customer office visits, candidate on-site interviews, conferences, demos, and company offsites
• Contribute creative operational solutions to complex and ambiguous technical problems

Basic Qualifications

• 5–10 years of operations experience, with meaningful time at an early-stage startup, where processes and structure were still being developed
• Broad operational experience spanning work with vendors, facilities, people ops, and cross-functional coordination
• Strong organizational instincts and the ability to juggle competing priorities
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity with minimal direction

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Prior experience as an early or first operations hire
• Experience working at a consulting, investment banking, hardware, aerospace, or defense company
• Exposure to government contracting businesses or environments

$120,000 - $170,000 a year

Compensation & Benefits

Our hiring and compensation strategy is simple: find uncommonly good people and pay them uncommonly well. We offer high flexibility between salary and equity-based compensation. Final candidates can choose from three compensation mixes: low, medium, or high equity. Equity is a significant component of total compensation, and we aim to provide meaningful ownership for this role. Full-time employees also enjoy a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, a 401(k) with company match, commuter benefits, and more.

Interview Process

We will conduct interviews via Google Meet with the potential for an onsite visit; the typical process takes around 3-5 weeks to complete from start to finish.

Why Join Array

At Array Labs, deep technical expertise meets relentless impact. We prioritize curiosity over hierarchy and bold engineering over incremental gains. Our world-class team across hardware engineering, software, and aerospace works collaboratively to push boundaries and move fast. Our values:

1. Build What Matters: Create technology that serves customers and advances humanity
2. Innovate Together: Stay curious, collaborate openly, push boundaries as one team
3. Employee Centric: Put our people first with a culture of trust, respect, and opportunity
4. Join industry-leading experts to deliver unprecedented insights about our planet and build the future of Earth observation.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Array Labs is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made on the basis of merit, competence, and job qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by gender, color, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age, gender identity, veteran status, disability status, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please let us know.