Senior Project Manager, Bus Systems in Santa Clara, California at E-Space
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Job Description
You will drive the bus system development program from early design through qualification and delivery.
Own the integrated program schedule across RF, mechanical, and manufacturing workstreams, and keep it honest against reality on the floor
Plan and run the gated lifecycle: SRR, PDR, CDR, qualification and acceptance reviews, with real entry/exit criteria, action tracking, and closure
Maintain the risk register and drive mitigations to closure rather than letting them age
Coordinate suppliers, contract manufacturers, and machine shops: quotes, lead times, quality escapes, and schedule recovery when a part slips
Interface with systems engineering on requirements flow-down, verification planning, and interface control, so the program plan and the technical baseline stay in step
Keep design, build, and test cycles short: unblock the team, sequence the work, and make sure prototypes and test articles show up when the engineers need them
You will work daily with RF, mechanical, and manufacturing engineers. You need enough technical depth to challenge an estimate, spot a risk before it appears in a status report, and make sensible trades without waiting for an engineer to translate. You do not need to design the hardware, but you need to understand what the designers are telling you and notice when two disciplines are quietly assuming different things.
8+ years managing hardware development programs in aerospace or a comparable regulated industry
Hands-on familiarity with RF and electronic systems: PCB development cycles, board bring-up, RF test campaigns and what makes them slip
Hands-on familiarity with mechanical development: machining, tolerancing, prototyping workflows, and the practical lead times behind each
A track record running gated program lifecycles with formal reviews, and the judgment to know when a gate is genuinely passed versus passed on paper
Working knowledge of systems engineering practice: requirements flow-down, verification and validation planning, interface management
Comfort in a fast prototyping environment where the plan changes weekly and the program manager is the one keeping it coherent
Clear, direct communication up and down: engineers get context, leadership gets truth
Spacecraft or satellite payload experience, especially through a qualification campaign
Familiarity with phased arrays or antenna hardware specifically
Experience managing contract manufacturers and international suppliers
Exposure to constellation-scale production thinking (design for rate, not just design for one)
$140,000 - $210,000 a year