Spacecraft Bus & Launch Services CTM (SE-02)

Job Description

To fly its orbital computing payload, Sophia is buying a configurable spacecraft bus from a commercial spacecraft manufacturer and a launch-vehicle rideshare slot to get it to orbit. Together these are the single largest hardware commitment on the program — and they need one owner. We are hiring a Contract Technical Manager (CTM) to be that owner: Sophia's single point of accountability, both commercial and technical, for the spacecraft-bus procurement, with a companion role supporting the launch rideshare procurement.

You will own the bus contract end-to-end — statement of work, pricing, payment milestones tied to real technical deliverables, delivery schedule, and warranty and support terms — and you will own the technical thread that runs through it: requirements flow-down, interface control documents, technical interchange meetings, acceptance testing, delivery, and the hand-off into early on-orbit operations. You do not need to be a design engineer, but you do need to be technically fluent enough to negotiate interface requirements, read acceptance-test data, and hold a supplier accountable on both commercial terms and technical performance.

Near term, your focus is standing up and running the bus contract cleanly: locking the SOW and milestone structure, driving the interface definition with our Chief Engineer and payload leads, and building a working technical relationship with the supplier's program and engineering teams. In parallel you will support the launch rideshare procurement — through the bus provider or a separate rideshare broker — so manifest, schedule, and integration requirements stay in lockstep with the bus. As Sophia's mission cadence grows, this role can grow into a small contracts and procurement function.

Sophia works at the leading edge of AI, and we use AI tools and agents as everyday leverage across engineering and operations — drafting, analysis, tracking, and decision support. We expect everyone, including in contracts and procurement work, to fold that leverage into how they work.

Location & Eligibility

This position is primarily in-person in Pasadena, California, with occasional hybrid flexibility based on business needs. The role includes periodic travel to the spacecraft-bus provider's facility and, as needed, the launch provider's facility, for technical interchange meetings and test reviews — estimated 2–4 days per month, plus travel for major test milestones.

This position may require access to technology subject to U.S. export-control laws. To comply with applicable ITAR and EAR regulations, applicants may need to qualify as a U.S. Person, as defined under those regulations. U.S. Persons generally include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (green-card holders), and certain protected individuals as defined by applicable law.

Primary Responsibilities

Contract Management & Negotiation (Primary)

• Own contract negotiation and administration for the spacecraft-bus procurement — statement of work, pricing, payment milestones, delivery schedule, and warranty/support terms.
• Author and negotiate contract change orders and SOW amendments as mission requirements evolve.
• Serve as Sophia's primary contractual point of contact with the bus provider, partnering with Legal and Finance on redlines, IP terms, liability, and export-control provisions.
• Track and administer milestone payments tied to technical deliverables — design reviews, integration and test milestones, delivery, and on-orbit checkout.

Technical Requirements & Interface Management

• Own the technical requirements flow-down between Sophia's mission/payload engineering team and the bus provider's engineering team — interface control documents (ICDs), requirements verification matrices, and exception tracking.
• Lead technical interchange meetings (TIMs) with the supplier; drive requirement clarifications, waivers, and deviations to closure.
• Coordinate payload-to-bus integration planning across mechanical, electrical, thermal, and software/avionics interfaces.
• Partner with Sophia's Chief Engineer and payload leads to confirm the bus configuration matches mission requirements.

Schedule & Program Management

• Maintain the master schedule for the procurement — bus configuration, build, integration and test, delivery, and launch-integration milestones.
• Identify schedule risk early and drive recovery plans jointly with supplier program management.
• Report program status — cost, schedule, technical, contract — to Sophia leadership on a regular cadence.

Acceptance Test & Delivery Management

• Review and approve acceptance test procedures and test-data packages for the spacecraft bus.
• Represent Sophia at factory acceptance testing, environmental test campaigns, and pre-ship reviews at the supplier's facility.
• Own delivery, transportation, and receiving-inspection coordination for the spacecraft bus.

Launch Vehicle (LV) Rideshare Procurement Support

• Support procurement of Sophia's launch rideshare slot — directly through the bus provider or through a separate rideshare reseller/broker — including proposal review, pricing and manifest terms, and contract execution.
• Track rideshare manifest allocation, mass/volume/orbit assignment, and payment milestones; flag manifest changes that could affect the spacecraft delivery schedule.
• Coordinate rideshare interface requirements — payload processing, separation system, launch-site logistics — and feed them into the integration schedule.

Risk, Compliance & Cost Discipline

• Maintain the procurement risk register across both the bus and rideshare procurements — technical, schedule, cost, and supplier-performance risk.
• Ensure compliance with ITAR/EAR export-control requirements governing technical-data exchange with suppliers.
• Own the procurement budget; track actuals vs. plan, reconcile invoices, and forecast cost-at-completion; maintain the contract file and deliverables tracking.

Required Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Supply Chain Management, or a related field; equivalent demonstrated experience accepted in lieu of a degree.
• 3–8 years in contracts management, subcontracts management, or technical procurement in aerospace, defense, or space systems. More experienced candidates may be brought in at the higher (Level III) end of the range.
• Demonstrated experience negotiating and managing a major hardware supplier contract — spacecraft bus, launch vehicle, propulsion system, or comparable complex flight hardware.
• Hands-on experience authoring and negotiating SOWs, pricing schedules, milestone payment structures, and contract change orders.
• Working knowledge of commercial contract types (firm-fixed-price, time and materials, milestone-based) and, where applicable, FAR/DFARS basics.
• Comfortable reading and negotiating technical requirements, ICDs, and verification matrices; conversant with spacecraft bus/payload integration concepts (mechanical, electrical, thermal, avionics interfaces) without needing to be a design engineer.
• Working knowledge of ITAR/EAR export-control requirements for technical-data exchange.
• Excellent negotiation and written/verbal communication; able to translate contractual and technical detail into clear program status. A direct, low-ego, collaborative style that keeps engineering, program management, finance, and legal aligned on one supplier relationship.
• Comfortable using AI tools in day-to-day work — interested in adopting AI assistants and agents to work faster and better, with sound judgment about where they help and where they fall short.

Desired Skills

Spacecraft Procurement Depth

• Prior direct experience procuring or delivering a spacecraft bus, satellite platform, or comparable major flight-hardware element — as a buyer or a supplier.
• Familiarity with configurable/productized spacecraft bus platforms and the contracting models that go with them; small-sat, ESPA-class, or commercial productized-bus missions.

Launch Vehicle Rideshare Procurement

• Experience procuring a launch-vehicle rideshare slot — directly with a launch provider or through a rideshare reseller/broker (a meaningful plus, not required).
• Familiarity with rideshare manifest management, launch services agreements (LSAs), or payload-to-LV integration requirements.

Certifications & Tooling

• PMP, CPSM, or NCMA (Certified Professional Contracts Manager) certification.
• Familiarity with PLM or contract-management tooling and electronic milestone/deliverables tracking.

Applied AI

• Demonstrated experience applying AI tools and agents (for example, LLM assistants such as Claude) in contracts, procurement, or program work — for analysis, drafting, tracking, or decision support.