VP of Mission Engineering
About Starfish Space
Starfish Space provides satellite servicing missions with its Otter servicing vehicle, including life extension missions for geostationary satellites and disposal missions for low Earth orbit satellites. Founded in 2019, Starfish has raised over $150M in venture capital funding and built a team of engineers with experience spanning satellite guidance, navigation, control, and autonomous robotics. Starfish has launched several missions to-date, and is focused on delivering Otter satellite servicing missions for SES, the U.S. Space Force, the Space Development Agency, NASA, and others.
Position Description
Starfish Space is building momentum for satellite servicing missions across commercial and government customers and is looking for a VP of Mission Engineering to help turn customer opportunities into successful missions. This role sits at the intersection of Business Development and Engineering, ensuring customer commitments are technically sound, executable, and aligned with Starfish's capabilities. This role will require a deep technical understanding of Starfish technologies, systems, and commercial strategies.
You will work closely across teams to develop mission plans, evaluate technical feasibility, support development, and help guide opportunities from initial engagement through execution on orbit. The ideal candidate is comfortable operating in a fast-paced startup environment and can balance delivering value for customers with ensuring technical and schedule feasibility.
Responsibilities
Develop engineering work plans and execution strategies for commercial and government opportunities
Evaluate and make engineering and program decisions in collaboration with the Business Development and Engineering teams through the full lifecycle of a mission opportunity
Review and approve mission-related engineering analyses supporting customer commitments
Review critical customer-facing technical deliverables
Validate technical scope, schedule, and pricing prior to customer proposals and contract award
Discuss and coordinate engineering decisions directly with customers
Qualifications
U.S. citizen or permanent resident
Willing to work from Tukwila, Washington
B.S. degree or equivalent experience in a relevant field
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment
10+ years of relevant experience
Preferred Experience
Understanding of systems engineering
Understanding of orbital dynamics
Understanding of hardware engineering
Experience planning and executing programs in the aerospace industry, ideally related to satellites
Experience working with commercial satellite operators or U.S. government space customers
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Excellent judgment and first-principles problem-solving skills
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.