Program Operations Manager – Spacecraft

Firefly Aerospace

Program Operations Manager overseeing spacecraft lifecycle and production operations at Firefly Aerospace. Responsible for ensuring quality, schedule, and cost commitments are met across teams and phases.

Posted 5/21/2026full-timeBriggs • Texas • 🇺🇸 United StatesSeniorLeadWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Primary interface between program and factory leadership teams; flow program priorities and requirements for production execution and collaborate cross-functionally to ensure program commitments are met throughout the product life cycle.
Develop and own each mission Integrated Master Schedule (IMS); manage critical path, mitigate schedule risks, and ensure alignment between program schedule/contract and factory capacity.
Flow down and monitor Operations cost and schedule performance for new development builds and deliveries through execution of New Product Introduction processes.
Partner with Finance to establish factory budget targets per mission (tooling, material, direct and support labor); track performance, drive cost reductions, and identify margin improvement opportunities.
Support proposal generation and contract-funded product development efforts including operational plan, resources and execution plan.
Work with Supply Chain Management to resolve materials constraints and logistics problems; collaborate on capital strategy in support of program and factory objectives.
Chair manufacturing readiness reviews and coordinate inputs/actions; drive adherence to quality, schedule, cost and technical mission goals.
Identify, assess, and mitigate operational risks; maintain risk register and lead root cause analysis and corrective actions for schedule slips, cost overruns, or quality escapes.
Define and track key operational metrics (throughput, cycle time, first-pass yield, on-time delivery); establish program scorecard dashboards for executive visibility.
Lead, influence, and communicate across all organizational levels to coordinate activities across factories and functions, ensuring program schedule and cost objectives are achieved.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Required STEM Degree and minimum 7 years prior relevant experience or an Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 5 years of experience or in absence of a degree 10 years of relevant experience
Wide-ranging Program Leadership / Manufacturing Operations experience
Understanding of product design process
Proven Experience in Manufacturing, Transition to Production, and Production ramp
Self-directed leader capable of executing Change Management and handling ambiguity
Proven experience managing budgets

Benefits

Comp & perks

generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles
parental leave
educational reimbursement
short term disability
pet Insurance
flexible PTO options

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)New Product IntroductionOperational metricsChange ManagementBudget managementRisk assessmentRoot cause analysisManufacturing operationsProduction rampCost reduction

Soft Skills

LeadershipCollaborationCommunicationSelf-directedProblem-solvingInfluencingOrganizational skillsCross-functional coordinationAdaptabilityDecision-making

Certifications

STEM DegreeAdvanced Degree in related field