(Senior) Manager, Product Assurance, System Development

The job responsibilities outlined in this document are not exhaustive and may evolve over time and be reviewed according to business needs.

PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION

meoSphere is SES’s next-generation Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation, designed to deliver secure connectivity services to government agencies, enterprises, and commercial customers. It will also provide high-speed broadband internet to eliminate global connectivity dead zones.

To accelerate development timelines, reduce costs, and ensure quality, SES is internalizing a critical segment of the satellite supply chain: the final integration of partner satellite platforms with SES’s software-defined payloads, all within a cutting-edge manufacturing and test facility.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Product Assurance exists to enable meoSphere mission success, not to maximize documentation or enforce process for its own sake.

We are building a modern MEO satellite communications network using an iterative development model. Our engineering philosophy emphasizes rapid learning, early integration, frequent testing, and continuous improvement through successive generations of hardware and software. Product Assurance is expected to evolve alongside the system, applying engineering rigor that is appropriate to the maturity, complexity, and mission criticality of each increment.

The successful candidate will understand that effective Product Assurance is not measured by the number of reviews or documents produced, but by helping the organization make informed technical decisions, retire risk early, and deliver increasingly capable and reliable systems in space and on the ground.

Candidates with significant leadership experience in Systems Engineering, Mission Assurance, Reliability Engineering, or Product Assurance are encouraged to apply.

ROLE DESCRIPTION SUMMARY

The Product Assurance lead is responsible for defining and leading the meoSphere end-to-end Product Assurance strategy across our integrated satellite communications system development program, including spacecraft, communications payloads, ground software and systems, ground infrastructure, integration, and launch. The PA leader is responsible for ensuring that every delivered product; hardware, software, and integrated system is safe, reliable, compliant, manufacturable, and ready for its intended mission. The Product Assurance organization is responsible for assuring the performance and integrity of the complete system, regardless of whether components are developed internally or externally. The PA leader will establish a scalable, risk-based assurance framework that supports rapid product evolution while protecting mission success, both commercial and sovereign customer commitments, and long-term network reliability.

The PA leader will work closely with Quality Management leaders in the Manufacturing and Operations areas to ensure overall mission success. 

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES / KEY RESULT AREAS

Product Assurance Strategy

• Develop and execute a Product Assurance strategy aligned with the system development roadmap, business objectives, and acceptable mission risk.
• Build a modern assurance team that emphasizes engineering judgment, data-driven decision making, and continuous improvement, interacting with the relevant functional departments and their quality management teams as necessary.
• Establish scalable Product Assurance policies, methods and processes appropriate for a fast-moving commercial space company, avoiding unnecessary application of legacy aerospace standards where they do not improve mission outcomes or drive lengthy resolution timelines.

Iterative Development and System Performance Assurance

• Develop assurance methodologies that support iterative development, rapid prototyping, and incremental capability delivery.
• Tailor assurance activities to each phase of system development, recognizing that development pathfinders, engineering models, prototypes, system qualification, verification and validation are important methods to ensure the development to the target performance.
• Enable rapid learning from test campaigns, pathfinder missions, and operational experience by ensuring lessons learned are systematically incorporated into future designs.
• Balance development velocity with disciplined risk management to accelerate overall system maturity.

End-to-End Systems Assurance

• Provide Product Assurance leadership and policies across the complete satellite communications development program, including: vertically integrated communications payload hardware, flight software, ground software and cloud infrastructure, network management systems, ground stations and gateways, satellite integration and environmental testing, user terminals.

Supplier and Partner Assurance

• Ensure appropriate technical oversight, qualification, and verification of externally developed hardware and software while fostering collaborative engineering relationships.
• Focus supplier oversight on technical performance, interface integrity, reliability, and mission risk rather than procedural compliance.
• Partner with procurement, supply chain and engineering teams to continuously improve supplier performance.
• Partner with Manufacturing to ensure controls are in place to assure the mission performance and reliability while balancing speed, cost, and risk, and meeting customer expectations.

Partnership with Quality Management and Configuration Management 

• Ensure we are applying a scalable Quality Management System during the meoSphere System Development phase, aligned towards risk reduction and planning for transition to qualification, manufacturing, and ultimate system operation.
• Establish practical methods in configuration management, traceability, and change management processes appropriate for iterative development using the digital tool chain as the master for this activity and ensuring it can be applied by the engineering, supply chain teams and inter-connects with manufacturing quality management and production.
• Drive continuous improvement using engineering data, operational experience, and customer feedback.

Reliability and Failure Investigation

• Assure processes, tools and training are applied to assure root cause feedback loops into the iterative system and product development lifecycle.  Includes internal development, along with external partners.
• Lead root cause investigations across development and with other functional quality leaders teams during manufacturing, testing and operations.
• Promote a culture of transparent reporting, rapid learning, and continuous improvement.

Cross-functional Leadership

• Partner with Systems Engineering, Payload Engineering, Missions Systems, Ground Software, Manufacturing, Procurement & Supply Chain, Product Management, Operations, and Customer Success throughout the system development cycle.
• Support the engineering team to integrate manufacturability and operability in their designs from the start working to facilitate collaboration between the different teams.
• Communicate risk clearly to executive leadership, enabling informed business and engineering decisions.

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

The successful candidate will;

• Think as a systems engineer first and a quality professional second.
• Exercise sound engineering judgment over rigid adherence to process.
• Apply assurance activities in proportion to technical and mission risk.
• Thrive in an environment of rapid iteration, frequent design evolution, and continuous learning.
• Build credibility through technical expertise, collaboration, and influence rather than organizational authority.
• Understand the balance between commercial agility and mission reliability.
• Foster a culture in which Product Assurance is viewed as an engineering partner that enables innovation while safeguarding mission success.

Qualifications Background and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, or another relevant technical discipline. 
• Advanced degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) preferred but not required. 
• 8-12 years of progressively responsible engineering, product assurance, mission assurance, systems engineering, reliability engineering, or quality leadership experience. 
• 5+ years leading multidisciplinary technical teams and managers. 
• Demonstrated experience tailoring engineering and product assurance processes to the maturity of a product or program rather than applying uniform process rigor across all development phases.
• Experience with complex, safety- or mission-critical systems integrating hardware, software, and operational services through the complete lifecycle—from concept through production, deployment, and operational support. 
• Leader who builds partnerships as a trusted engineering advisor rather than compliance authority, comfortable making decisions with incomplete information, ability to communicate technical risk in business terms. 

OTHER KEY REQUIREMENTS / COMMENTS

• The candidate must be eligible for a “SECRET” security clearance, in accordance with the national regulations as well as EU/ESA/NATO equivalents
• Willing to work 60% onsite from office
• Travel as required for project realization purposes