Senior Manager, Government Solutions & Operations

Senior Manager, Government Solutions & Customer Engagement

If you are a seasoned technical leader with extensive experience supporting U.S. Government customers and translating complex mission needs into practical solutions, you will be excited about the Senior Manager, Government Solutions & Customer Engagement opportunity with Iridium. In this role, you'll independently lead a team of customer-facing Field Solutions Engineers (FSEs) supporting Iridium's Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) program and broader U.S. Government (USG) customers. Working within established USG strategy and business priorities, you'll translate objectives into executable FSE plans, guide complex technical and customer engagements, strengthen service delivery, and help expand adoption of Iridium capabilities. You'll thrive in this role if you bring proven people leadership, deep technical credibility, sound operational judgment, and the ability to engage senior government stakeholders and deliver measurable business results from day one. This position requires an active/current Top Secret Security Clearance (A U.S. Security Clearance that has been active in the past 24 months is considered active).

What You'll Do:

Foster and develop a highly effective team of Field Solutions Engineers (FSEs) supporting EMSS and broader USG customers, providing direction, coaching, development, and technical leadership to drive team performance and effective customer support.

Mentor and train your team by evaluating employees' performance, recognizing areas for improvement, and providing reliable solutions to problems that may impact your team's effectiveness.

Translate established USG strategy and business priorities into actionable FSE operating plans, team objectives, and execution priorities; monitor progress and adjust activities to deliver results.

Independently manage day-to-day FSE operations, assign resources, prioritize competing customer and technical needs, and resolve complex issues within established organizational priorities and authority.

Serve as an experienced technical and customer-facing leader, engaging with warfighters, Combatant Commands, government program offices, operational units, mission partners, and industry partners to understand mission needs, operational challenges, and emerging requirements.

Lead the development and implementation of technical solutions that translate complex customer and mission requirements into actionable capabilities, service improvements, and operational outcomes.

Lead technical briefings, demonstrations, training, and solution-design sessions with government and industry stakeholders to demonstrate Iridium capabilities and drive adoption and operational use.

Coordinate across Engineering, Operations, Sales, Contracts, Customer Support, and other functions to resolve customer needs and drive technical, Helpdesk, and Order Fulfillment actions through completion.

Lead the planning and execution of USG outreach, EMSS Academy, training, and exercise support activities, ensuring engagements are aligned with operational priorities, customer requirements, and measurable adoption objectives.

Provide operational leadership and oversight of Field Solutions Engineering, Helpdesk, and Order Fulfillment activities, establishing performance expectations, improving responsiveness, resolving escalated customer issues, and ensuring accountability for service delivery, provisioning, and customer support.

Translate customer feedback, operational lessons learned, and emerging mission requirements into technical requirements, service enhancements, and opportunities to expand EMSS adoption and support growth across the USG portfolio.

Actively support USG business development and capture efforts by identifying customer opportunities, contributing technical solutions and customer insights, and supporting proposals and customer engagements in alignment with leadership-defined capture strategy.

Drive measurable outcomes from customer engagement, outreach, and technical support activities, including increased device adoption, IMEI sales, service activations, and qualified opportunities that contribute to USG revenue and margin objectives.

What You'll Need to Succeed:

Bachelor's degree in engineering, telecommunications, business, or any technical related field.

10+ years of relevant experience in solutions engineering, field engineering, systems engineering, SATCOM/telecommunications, government customer engagement, or a related technical field.

Previous management experience required.

Experience working directly with U.S. Government and/or Department of Defense (DoD) customers in technical, operational, or mission-focused environments.

Strong understanding of satellite communications, telecommunications, or other complex technical systems and the ability to translate technical capabilities into solutions that address customer mission needs.

Demonstrated experience gathering and analyzing complex customer requirements and developing effective technical and operational solutions.

Experience leading complex customer engagements involving multiple internal and external stakeholders.

Capable of being a strong motivator and source of direction for your team and role modelling commitment to your team's goals.

Have a people-oriented mentality and be able to build meaningful relationships with senior leadership on your team and in other departments.

Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey products, deliverables, analyses, and/or issues clearly and confidently, and recognize and adapt to different communication techniques.

Be able to analyze and understand a situation or problem and think critically to make decisions, come up with and evaluate unique solutions, and see those solutions through to completion.

Be independent and self-motivated and demonstrate a high degree of creativity, flexibility, and resourcefulness.

Have a strong sense of urgency in driving projects to completion and be motivated to achieve outcomes and results.

Can thrive in a dynamic environment and efficiently manage multiple or complex projects while continuously looking for new and enhanced ways of doing things.

Things That Would be Great if You Brought to the Table:

Experience supporting DoD SATCOM, COMSATCOM, or other satellite communications programs.

Familiarity with EMSS and Iridium's role within the U.S. Government satellite communications ecosystem.

Experience working directly with Combatant Commands, operational units, or other warfighter organizations.

Experience leading Field Solutions Engineering, customer engineering, or another customer-facing technical team.

Experience supporting capture and proposal activities for major U.S. Government opportunities.

Working knowledge of the government acquisition process and FAR.

We'll also need you to:

Be able to travel up to 30%.

This position directly performs under, supports, or is exposed to a U.S. government contract. To comply with the requirements of that U.S. government contract, applicants for this position must be U.S. citizens.

Work Environment:

This position primarily works in an office setting and is largely sedentary with the majority of the position working with a computer. The role typically requires the use of basic office equipment such as a phone, video, computer, keyboard, mouse, and printer.

We believe in-person connection drives innovation, strengthens mentorship, and builds culture, while flexibility enables employees to do their best work. Under Iridium's Hybrid Work Policy, employees are expected to work at least four days per week (approximately 80%) in an Iridium office to support collaboration, relationship-building, and professional growth.

Additional Information

This job description outlines the general nature and level of work for this role and is not a comprehensive list of duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Employees may be assigned additional responsibilities as needed.

Base Pay Range:

Actual compensation will be determined based on a variety of factors and this range represents an estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Base salary is only one part of our compensation package for this role. You may also be eligible for company stock and annual bonus. Employee benefits also include medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage; 401(k) retirement plan options; paid time off and paid holidays; paid parental leave; and other discounts and perks.

Iridium is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.