Vice President Program Management

A high-growth space technology company is seeking a Vice President of Programs & Operations to lead program execution and build the operational infrastructure required to support its next stage of growth.

This is a hands-on leadership opportunity for someone who has successfully operated within a startup or high-growth environment and has experience building teams, processes, and structure from the ground up.

Working closely with the executive leadership team, you will take ownership of execution across engineering, product, and customer programs, with a particular focus on complex national security and government space missions.

This role requires a genuine builder, someone comfortable creating structure where it doesn't yet exist, solving problems personally when required, and remaining close to program execution as the organization scales.

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end execution of complex customer programs across national security and commercial space missions.
• Build and scale the program management function, including people, processes, reporting, and operating cadence.
• Establish repeatable processes for customer onboarding, mission deployments, and operational delivery.
• Act as a senior point of accountability for program delivery and mission success.
• Work directly with government customers and senior stakeholders throughout program execution.
• Partner closely with engineering, product, and customer teams to manage dependencies, remove blockers, and maintain delivery schedules.
• Implement effective program reviews, execution tracking, dashboards, and reporting.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and build scalable solutions that improve delivery speed and reliability.
• Translate company growth into operational requirements across staffing, resources, infrastructure, and execution.
• Recruit and develop program management talent as the organization grows.
• Remain hands-on when required, stepping directly into programs and solving execution challenges rather than operating solely at an executive level.

Key Requirements

• 12+ years of relevant program management, operations, or customer delivery experience.
• Demonstrable experience building teams, processes, and operational structures from the ground up.
• At least 2 years of recent experience operating within a startup or high-growth technology company.
• Significant defense, national security, aerospace, or space industry experience, ideally supporting U.S. Air Force and/or U.S. Space Force customers.
• Meaningful industry-side experience managing and delivering government programs.
• Experience delivering complex software or integrated software/hardware systems.
• Ability to operate effectively in an environment with ambiguity, changing priorities, limited resources, and evolving processes.
• Strong customer-facing leadership experience with DoD and/or Intelligence Community stakeholders.
• Active TS or TS/SCI security clearance required.
• Must be based in Colorado or willing to relocate.

This is an opportunity to join a well-funded, growing space technology business at a point where the successful hire can have a significant impact on how the organization operates and scales. Rather than inheriting a mature program organization, you will have the opportunity to build the function, establish how programs are delivered, develop the team, and create the operational framework required to support increasingly complex national security and commercial missions.

The leadership team values ownership, decisive execution, collaboration, and a willingness to get involved personally when needed.