Job Description
Athena is Sophia Space's first hardware mission to space — a complex, fast-moving program where business discipline is what turns ambition into on-schedule, on-budget delivery. As Business Manager for Athena, you are the financial and contractual backbone of the program office, working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Program Manager so that cost, schedule, and contracts stay tightly wired to technical progress.
You will own the program's business execution: the budget and the integrated schedule, the earned-value story that ties them together, and the full lifecycle of commercial and government contracts that supply the mission. It is a high-visibility role at the center of Sophia Space's most important near-term mission, with room to grow into full ownership of the program's business function.
You will do this in an organization that leans hard on modern AI — you're encouraged to put AI tools to work across cost and schedule analysis, contract review, and reporting, moving faster while keeping a clear head about where the tools help and where they don't.
Location & Eligibility
This position is primarily in-person in Pasadena, California, with occasional hybrid flexibility based on business needs.
This position may require access to technology subject to U.S. export-control laws. To comply with applicable ITAR and EAR regulations, applicants may need to qualify as a U.S. Person, as defined under those regulations. U.S. Persons generally include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (green-card holders), and certain protected individuals as defined by applicable law.
Primary Responsibilities
- Budget & Financial Management (Primary) — Own the Athena budget: baseline and manage the work breakdown structure and budget-at-completion; lead monthly cost performance reviews with cost performance reports and variance analysis; coordinate with Finance on actuals, accruals, purchase orders, and forecasting; manage estimate-at-completion and flag emerging overruns.
- Schedule Management — Develop, baseline, and maintain the Integrated Master Schedule with engineering, operations, and supply chain; track milestones and schedule risk; run the weekly status and escalation cadence; apply Earned Value Management to tie schedule performance to cost.
- Contracts & Subcontract Management — Serve as the day-to-day contracts interface; administer FAR/DFARS-compliant subcontracts and government task orders; support proposals and negotiations; maintain CDRLs and period-of-performance tracking; coordinate with Legal on NDAs, IP, and changes.
- Program Operations & Reporting — Prepare cost, schedule, risk, and contract briefings for internal and customer audiences; maintain program-control documentation; gather integrated status across teams; support the risk and opportunity register with quantified impacts.
Required Skills
- Program business management, program control, or project management experience in aerospace, defense, or space
- Demonstrated cost and schedule management on hardware development programs
- Proficiency with program scheduling tools (e.g. MS Project, Primavera, or equivalent)
- Working knowledge of FAR/DFARS, government contract types (CPFF, FFP, T&M), and subcontract administration
- Experience developing and presenting cost performance reports, variance analyses, and estimate-at-completion forecasts
- Strong spreadsheet and financial-modeling skills; comfortable working with large datasets
- Clear written and verbal communication — able to translate financial complexity into a clear program narrative
- Comfortable using AI tools in day-to-day work — interested in adopting AI assistants and agents to work faster and better, with sound judgment about where they help and where they fall short
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Engineering Management, Systems Engineering, or a related field
Desired Skills
- Commercial-space startup or first-of-kind hardware mission experience
- Earned Value Management Systems (EVMS) familiarity and ANSI/EIA-748
- NASA or DoD program support with CDRLs and contract data deliverables
- PMP or equivalent certification
- Demonstrated experience applying AI tools and agents (e.g. LLM assistants such as Claude) to program-controls work — cost and schedule analysis, contract review, drafting, or reporting
- Experience with program-management and collaboration tools (e.g. JIRA, Confluence)
- Cross-functional work with supply chain and hardware engineering teams