Technical Program Manager

Job Application for Technical Program Manager at K2 Space Back to jobs Technical Program Manager Los Angeles, CA Apply K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others – with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers – we’re mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space. The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today’s and tomorrow’s massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits. With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply. The Role As a Technical Program Manager within National Security Programs, you’ll serve as the primary technical interface between K2 Space, customers, and partners as we develop and shape mission architectures for future and ongoing opportunities to host advanced payload capabilities onto K2’s satellite bus platform. You’ll primarily support mission-level engineering for early technical engagement, requirements formulation and negotiation, concept and architecture studies, payload-to-bus compatibility, proposal-phase activities, and program execution. In this role, you will work closely with Program Managers and key engineering disciplines to define and architect missions (mechanical, software, power, avionics, etc.) and ensure alignment to K2 Space’s technology and capabilities. You will also represent K2 Space in critical customer engagements, study reviews, and technical negotiations. The ideal candidate has strong multi-disciplinary engineering skills, hands-on experience, and excellent communication abilities to effectively collaborate with National Security customers and stakeholders. Responsibilities Define, mature, and negotiate mission concepts. Support initial payload integration studies, mission analysis, system architecture trades, system integration designs, and concept of operations development. Develop and maintain technical documentation for system architecture, payload interface designs, spacecraft design capabilities and requirements, and concepts of operations to ensure customer requirements and architectures align with K2 Space’s technology offerings. Serve as the primary technical interface for early customer engagement. Lead technical discussions, represent K2 Space in TEMs and study reviews, ensure customer requirements are understood, and ensure the customer understands the extent of K2 Space’s capabilities. Coordinate cross-functional early study efforts. Work closely with vehicle engineering, avionics, software, propulsion, thermal, and AI&T teams to ensure solutions are practical and executable. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline. 5+ Years of experience working in the aerospace or space industry, working with spacecraft or space systems Direct experience designing, developing, integrating or testing spacecraft or space systems. Strong understanding of spacecraft subsystems, space system architectures, and mission modeling and simulation. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills Nice to Have Master’s degree or above in an engineering discipline. 10+ Years of experience working in the aerospace or space industry, working with spacecraft, launch vehicles, airborne systems, or payloads Experience working directly with National Security customers and systems Satellite constellation modeling, simulation and analysis experience and intuitive understanding of multibody dynamics Payload performance modeling and analysis (Electro Optical, Radio Frequency, Infrared, Communications, Networking, Position Navigation and timing etc) Deep understanding of national security enterprise ground systems and architectures including command and control, networking, tasking, planning, scheduling, processing, dissemination, and tracking software architectures Ability to travel up to 25% of the time Compensation and Benefits: Base salary range for this role is $125,000 - $250,000 + equity in the company Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged! If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know. Export Compliance As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.” The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license. Equal Opportunity K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status. Create a Job Alert Interested in building your career at K2 Space ? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email. Create alert Apply for this job * indicates a required field Autofill with MyGreenhouse First Name * Last Name * Preferred First Name Email * Phone Country * Phone * Resume/CV * Attach Attach Enter manually Enter manually Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf Cover Letter Attach Attach Enter manually Enter manually Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf Education School * Select... Degree * Select... Discipline * Select... Start date year End date year Add another LinkedIn profile How did you hear about this job? * Your current location * We value in-person collaboration, and this role requires an in-office presence. Are you able to be onsite full time at our Headquarters in Torrance, California? * Select... What is your ideal start date? * What are your base salary expectations? * Active Security Clearance(s) * Select... Are you legally authorized to work in the United States? * Select... Citizenship Status * Select... 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. Learn more about ITAR here . If Other, please explain: Voluntary Self-Identification For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file. As set forth in K2 Space ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law. Gender Select... Are you Hispanic/Latino? Select... Race & Ethnicity Definitions If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows: A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability. A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service. An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense. An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985. Veteran Status Select... Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form CC-305 Page 1 of 1 OMB Control Number 1250-0005 Expires 04/30/2026 Why are you being asked to complete this form? We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years. Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at . How do you know if you have a disability? A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to: Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally) Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS Blind or low vision Cancer (past or present) Cardiovascular or heart disease Celiac disease Cerebral palsy Deaf or serious difficulty hearing Diabetes Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders Epilepsy or other seizure disorder Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome Intellectual or developmental disability Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD Missing limbs or partially missing limbs Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS) Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities Partial or complete paralysis (any cause) Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema Short stature (dwarfism) Traumatic brain injury Disability Status Select... PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete. Submit application Powered by Greenhouse