We’re seeking a Payload Processing Facility Manager to join one of our valued clients on Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA. This is a full-time direct hire opportunity with a salary range of $120,000 to $140,000 based on experience. Some overtime required. If you’re interested in this role, apply today! We’d love to see your resume!
**THIS JOB REQUIRES A BACKGROUND CHECK AND FEDERAL DRUG TEST**
Duties & Responsibilities
- Own day-to-day facility operations, including budgeting, staffing, and revenue generation from external customer campaigns.
- Consistently deliver short payload processing timelines for missions, targeting 5–10 business days from spacecraft arrival to fairing encapsulation.
- Build and manage strong commercial customer relationships, including pricing, contracts, scheduling, and day-of-launch coordination.
- Maintain required environmental cleanliness standards, contamination monitoring programs, ESD controls, and hazardous processing capabilities (including hydrazine, cold gas, and green propellants, as well as small ordnance).
- Provide regular environmental status updates and reports to internal stakeholders and external customers.
- Partner with the mission management team to support customer reviews and milestone deliverables.
- Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team of technicians, engineers, safety specialists, and logistics personnel; scale the organization as launch cadence increases.
- Serve as the primary interface for internal and external stakeholders across the entire processing lifecycle, from contract kickoff through final handover at the launch pad.
- Maintain all facility certifications and ensure full compliance with range safety, ITAR/EAR, and company safety standards.
- Coordinate facility upgrades and new capability deployments in parallel with active internal and customer campaigns.
Skills & Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, aerospace, or a related operations-focused field.
- 5+ years of experience working in satellite or payload processing cleanroom environments.
- Hands-on experience supporting commercial payload processing campaigns for orbital launch vehicles.
- Demonstrated track record operating or managing shared or multi-tenant payload processing facilities (commercial, government, or contractor).
- Proven ability to negotiate and close facility-use agreements or service contracts with commercial spacecraft operators.
- Strong working knowledge of cleanroom protocols, contamination control plans, and hazardous processing operations.
- Active Top Secret clearance or the ability to obtain one.
- Prior leadership experience at a commercial space company or payload processing contractor preferred.
- Direct experience with small-satellite fairing encapsulation and Alpha-class payloads.
- Experience with hydrazine and propellant loading operations, including associated safety and compliance protocols.
- Proven experience commissioning new processing facilities or executing major facility expansions.
- Existing relationships within the rideshare, small-sat, or constellation customer community.
- Willingness to travel up to 25% to other offices, test facilities, and launch sites.
Excel Personnel Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Excel is governed based on 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.