Project Manager, Software, Space Systems

Location: San Jose, CA or Littleton, CO 

Job Type: Full-time (In-office hybrid) 

Position Summary: 

Astro Digital is a small satellite company seeking a motivated and hands-on technical Project Manager to help manage software projects across our flight and ground systems. You’ll work to ensure timely and efficient delivery of high-quality software that enables our spacecraft operations. This role will focus on day-to-day projects, coordinating schedules, balancing people's workloads, and prioritizing tasks. 

Note: This position requires access to export-controlled commodities, technical data, technology, software, and services. U.S. citizenship, U.S. legal permanent resident status, or protected person status under 22 CFR §120.15 and 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3) is required. 

Primary Duties and Responsibilities: 

• Work closely with software, hardware, test, and satellite operations remote and distributed teams. 
• Help resolve any cross-departmental issues or blockers. 
• Act as a point of contact for customers, ensuring software development progress aligns with their expectations and timelines. 
• Support the team in responding to and resolving anomalies during all phases of a mission. Ensure timely patching and updates for on-orbit systems. 
• Assess and adjust project priorities based on business and technical needs. 
• Help the team maintain focus and manage workload effectively, ensuring tasks are correctly scoped and resourced. 
• Assist in refining internal processes to balance innovation with structured project management. Driving toward better time estimates and resource allocation. 
• Navigate high-pressure situations, particularly aggressive timelines, helping engineers manage stress, meet deadlines, and collaborate effectively. 
• Build consensus and facilitate collaborative planning, ensuring all stakeholders are aligned on project goals, timelines, and deliverables. 
• Take and digest actions from working meetings and assign and track their completion. 
• Facilitate an environment where team members feel heard and valued in decision-making processes. 

Required Skills & Experience: 

• At least 5 years of experience working in software development or software project management. Ideally, at least 2 years working primarily as an individual contributor. 
• Strong understanding of software engineering concepts and project workflows is essential. 
• Demonstrated experience working in a development environment where rapid iteration is common. 
• Strong interpersonal skills to manage distractions and refocus teams. 
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and collaborating across departments. 
• Proven track record of resolving conflicts within teams, particularly in high-stress, tight-deadline environments. 
• Demonstrated ability to remain calm and solution-oriented under pressure. An empathetic leader who understands the challenges engineers face and motivates the team with patience and professionalism.  
• Experience interpreting contracts and how those business requirements affect engineering. 
• Willingness to occasionally work hands-on with development units in a lab setting. 
• Comfort using git and GitLab, and familiarity with the merge request flow. Knowledge of Odoo is a plus. 

Preferred Experience: 

• Previous experience in the space industry. 
• Strong familiarity with Linux, including architecture, build processes, and shell. 
• Familiarity with embedded C or C , especially RTOSs. 
• Understanding of the TCP/IP stack and layer model. 
• Familiarity with Django or general full stack web patterns. 
• Experience with relational and time series databases 
• Experience with ground telemetry architectures 
• Experience developing and maintaining secure ground data infrastructure 

Salary: $120,000 - $150,000, and company stock options, based on experience