VP of Mission Engineering
About the role
About Starfish Space
Starfish Space provides satellite servicing missions with its Otter servicing vehicle, including life extension missions for geostationary satellites and disposal missions for low Earth orbit satellites. Founded in 2019, Starfish has raised over $150M in venture capital funding and built a team of engineers with experience spanning satellite guidance, navigation, control, and autonomous robotics. Starfish has launched several missions to-date, and is focused on delivering Otter satellite servicing missions for SES, the U.S. Space Force, the Space Development Agency, NASA, and others.
Position Description
Starfish Space is building momentum for satellite servicing missions across commercial and government customers and is looking for a VP of Mission Engineering to help turn customer opportunities into successful missions. This role sits at the intersection of Business Development and Engineering, ensuring customer commitments are technically sound, executable, and aligned with Starfish's capabilities. This role will require a deep technical understanding of Starfish technologies, systems, and commercial strategies.
You will work closely across teams to develop mission plans, evaluate technical feasibility, support development, and help guide opportunities from initial engagement through execution on orbit. The ideal candidate is comfortable operating in a fast-paced startup environment and can balance delivering value for customers with ensuring technical and schedule feasibility.
Responsibilities
- Develop engineering work plans and execution strategies for commercial and government opportunities
- Evaluate and make engineering and program decisions in collaboration with the Business Development and Engineering teams through the full lifecycle of a mission opportunity
- Review and approve mission-related engineering analyses supporting customer commitments
- Review critical customer-facing technical deliverables
- Validate technical scope, schedule, and pricing prior to customer proposals and contract award
- Discuss and coordinate engineering decisions directly with customers
Qualifications
- U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Willing to work from Tukwila, Washington
- B.S. degree or equivalent experience in a relevant field
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment
- 10+ years of relevant experience
Preferred Experience
- Understanding of systems engineering
- Understanding of orbital dynamics
- Understanding of hardware engineering
- Experience planning and executing programs in the aerospace industry, ideally related to satellites
- Experience working with commercial satellite operators or U.S. government space customers
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Excellent judgment and first-principles problem-solving skills
ITAR Requirements 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.
Where you can work
Fully remote, open only to people based in United States.
Copied from the listing Starfish Space published, verified 29 Oct 2026.
The application
Your details and CV, then 4 questions.
- 1.ITAR Eligibility Requirements: Starfish must comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Are you a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., proYes or no
- 2.Defense Contracts: Some of our important customers include the US Space Force and Space Development Agency; are you comfortable working on defense contracts?Yes or no
- 3.Work Location: We believe it's important to be in the same location regularly; are you comfortable working from Tukwila, WA? (Or other location as listed on job posting.)Yes or no
- 4.Startup Reality: Despite making some progress, as an early stage company we are unlikely to maximize your job security or salary; are you okay with that?Yes or no
Taken from the application form Starfish Space runs, verified 29 Oct 2026.
About Starfish Space
Satellite servicing spacecraft that dock with satellites in orbit.
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