Technical Program Manager, Mission Integration

Who We Are

GITAI is a space robotics company working to reduce the cost of work in space by 100x.

Space is no longer defined only by the cost of launch. Satellites, space stations, lunar infrastructure, and defense systems are becoming more capable and more ambitious. But getting hardware to space is only the first step. The harder problem is doing useful work once it is there.

GITAI develops robotic systems for orbital, lunar, and defense applications. Our robots are designed for tasks such as assembly, inspection, maintenance, construction, and surface operations in environments where human labor is expensive, dangerous, or impractical. To move fast and drive cost down, we keep hardware, software, testing, and integration close together. This allows our team to learn from real tests, shorten development cycles, and reduce dependency on slow external handoffs.

We are still early. The systems, the company, and the market are all being built at the same time. The work is difficult, and many answers are still not written down. If the work pulls you in, and you want to move it forward with your own hands, GITAI is the right place for you.

Your Mission

Enable GITAI’s engineering teams to stay focused on engineering by owning the program coordination and external dependencies around them.

The Technical Program Manager is a hands-on individual contributor role supporting GITAI’s Space-Based Interceptor program and related U.S. government missile defense initiatives. You will report to the VP of Program Management and help the program deliver against a series of contractual, technical, regulatory, integration, and launch milestones. This role has no direct reports.

This is not a product management, technical authority, or people-management role. It is closer to a Mission Manager role in aerospace, focused on coordinating the work around Engineering and keeping the mission on track.

Engineering leaders will own the technical direction and execution. You will own flight opportunity assessment, launch campaign coordination, mission integration, external deliverables, regulatory and government approval tracking, contract support, and stakeholder coordination.

You will work across launch service providers, launch aggregators, other payload organizations sharing the launch, U.S. government customers, regulatory authorities, subcontractors, and internal teams. Success requires more than maintaining smooth relationships. You must be able to negotiate, challenge assumptions, push back on unrealistic requirements or commitments, and hold stakeholders accountable when mission execution is at risk.

At its core, this role is about maximizing the output of the engineering team. You will turn complex external dependencies into clear actions, create the structure and momentum needed to keep the program moving, and enable the team to deliver each milestone with rigor and precision.

What You’ll Drive

• Assess launch and rideshare opportunities by evaluating launch vehicle capabilities, payload constraints, target orbit, schedule, launch-site logistics, pricing, contractual terms, regulatory requirements, and mission risk.
• Own the program coordination for each launch campaign from flight opportunity selection through payload delivery, integration, launch readiness, and launch execution.
• Serve as the primary working-level point of contact across U.S. government customers, launch service providers, launch aggregators, mission partners, regulators, subcontractors, and GITAI’s internal teams.
• Build and maintain the integrated mission plan, including engineering milestones, external deliverables, government approvals, testing, payload integration, logistics, contract commitments, risks, and decisions.
• Read and interpret Payload User’s Guides and other mission documentation with Engineering, translate external requirements into clear internal actions, and obtain clarification or negotiate changes when requirements are unclear or impractical.
• Facilitate external meetings, gather questions and concerns from Engineering, secure clear answers and decisions, and push back when requirements, deadlines, or commitments put program execution at risk.
• Work with Engineering, Legal, Finance, Supply Chain, Security, and external consultants to manage contracts, regulatory items, and other non-engineering dependencies through completion.
• Provide concise updates to program leadership on current status, critical risks, unresolved dependencies, contractual or financial exposure, and decisions required.

What We’re Looking For

You do not need to arrive with detailed knowledge of every launch vehicle, orbital parameter, or licensing process. You do need to learn unfamiliar technical and regulatory subjects quickly and turn new information into clear program actions.

You should have:

• A bachelor’s degree or higher in engineering, science, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of experience managing technically complex or regulated programs.
• At least one year of full-time experience in a fast-moving startup or small company where roles, priorities, and processes changed frequently.
• Direct experience serving as the bridge between an internal technical organization and government agencies, regulatory authorities, public-sector customers, or other external stakeholders.
• Experience serving as the primary point of contact for a complex program and managing external deliverables, approvals, contractual commitments, schedul