Mission Manager

Responsibilities

• Lead customer missions from onboarding through integration, launch readiness, operational handoff, and ongoing support
• Build and manage program plans, including milestones, owners, risks, dependencies, schedules, readiness criteria, and communications
• Serve as the main programmatic point of contact for customers and internal teams
• Understand customer mission requirements, workflows, success criteria, operational needs, and constraints
• Coordinate across Engineering, Product, Business Development, and Operations to resolve issues and keep deployments on track
• Track technical integration progress, surface risks early, and drive decisions needed for mission readiness
• Help define and improve Northwood’s customer onboarding, deployment, escalation, and post-launch support processes
• Capture customer feedback and translate it into clear product, operational, and business priorities
• Partner with Business Development on customer expansion, renewals, and new mission opportunities
• Ensure Northwood delivers reliable, high-quality service for customer missions

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in technical program management, mission management, customer operations, deployment management, customer success, product operations, or a related role
• Experience leading complex cross-functional programs from planning through execution
• Ability to work effectively with customers, technical teams, executives, and external partners
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to create structure, prioritize work, and drive progress in fast-moving environments
• Experience with hardware, software, networking, infrastructure, customer deployments, or mission-critical operations
• Ability to understand customer needs and translate them into clear technical, operational, and business priorities
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
• Willingness to travel up to 30%

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace, Business, or a related field
• Experience in satellite communications, ground station operations, space systems, telecom, defense, or infrastructure deployments
• Experience managing technical customer programs, enterprise deployments, customer success programs, or mission operations
• Familiarity with systems engineering, solution architecture, operational readiness, SLA management, or mission assurance
• Experience working with Product and Engineering teams on customer-driven roadmaps or operational improvements
• Experience supporting government, defense, or regulated customers
• Ability to obtain or maintain a TS/SCI clearance