Your space-enabled career begins here

Come be a part of the 21st Century Space Race. At Firefly, we are focused on the leading edge of space systems progression. Our company is committed to providing economical and convenient access to space for small payloads through the design, manufacture, and operation of reliable launch vehicles and spacecraft. To get there, we are looking for incredibly passionate, bright, and determined people to join our team.

SUMMARY

As a Technical Project Manager at Firefly, you will drive the planning, scheduling, and execution of software development activities that span Firefly’s full spacecraft and launch vehicle portfolio. You will serve as the connective tissue between software, avionics, hardware, test, and operations teams: ensuring milestones align, risks are managed, and deliverables close on schedule.

You’ll work hands-on with engineering leadership and subject-matter experts to translate technical input into executable plans, track progress through design and test phases, and maintain the documentation and risk posture needed for program success.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage schedules, backlogs, and risks for software teams supporting multiple flight and ground vehicle programs.
• Coordinate software development milestones with Avionics, Hardware, Test, and Mission Operations, ensuring cross-discipline alignment.
• Maintain integrated schedules covering System Requirements Reviews (SRR), Preliminary Design Reviews (PDR), Critical Design Reviews (CDR), and flight readiness milestones.
• Collaborate with engineering leads to define technical scope, resource needs, and schedule dependencies.
• Support documentation preparation for design reviews and program gates, aggregating inputs from engineers and functional leads.
• Track and manage program risks, mitigation plans, and action items to closure.
• Maintain and automate program metrics dashboards using Python or SQL for data extraction and reporting.
• Serve as a liaison between engineering and program management, ensuring technical accuracy and schedule integrity.
• Facilitate sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives for software teams using Agile or hybrid workflows.
• Maintain project information and visibility using the Atlassian Suite (Jira, Confluence).

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field such as engineering, computer science, or similar.
• 5+ years of experience in technical project management or program integration for complex engineering systems.
• Demonstrated success managing software development schedules and cross-functional dependencies in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency with Atlassian tools: Jira (issue tracking, dashboards, reports) and Confluence (documentation, templates, macros).
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail in maintaining schedules, risks, and review materials.
• Basic proficiency in Python and SQL for data analysis, automation, or reporting.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of distilling technical details into clear, actionable plans.
• Proven ability to collaborate across multiple engineering disciplines.

Desired

• Aerospace or space systems experience, particularly in flight software, ground software, avionics, or spacecraft operations.
• Familiarity with system-level design reviews and program lifecycle processes
• Experience integrating Agile software practices within a systems engineering or hardware-centric organization.
• Knowledge of project tracking tools such as MS Project, Smartsheet, or OpenProject.
• Understanding of configuration management, documentation control, and technical baseline maintenance.
• PMP or CSM certification is a plus but not required.