Full-Time
Production Supervisor
Production Operations
Sierra Space
1,001-5,000 employees
LEO space transportation, habitats, satellites
Compensation Overview
$78.4k - $107.7k/yr
No H1B Sponsorship
Englewood, CO, USA
In Person
Willingness to travel for short and extended trips is required.
US Citizenship, US Top Secret Clearance Required
Bachelor's
 Manufacturing & Production Operations (1) |
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- A Bachelor's degree in a related field, or equivalent work experience in lieu of the degree.
- The ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret U.S. Security Clearance.
- Strong leadership and team management skills.
- The ability to uphold and model company values and hold others accountable to those values.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
- Knowledge of industry standards and regulations.
- Experience supporting organizational changes.
- Supervise production personnel in the build and assembly of space system hardware components, subassemblies, and integrated systems, providing direct guidance in accordance with operational plans and management direction.
- Review production schedules, material requirements, and manpower resources to optimize manufacturing operations and ensure execution of weekly and monthly operational plans.
- Assign personnel and resources strategically to meet production objectives, program milestones, and schedule commitments.
- Monitor and manage costs and workforce plans relative to team performance and organizational targets.
- Identify and communicate production constraints, material shortages, and technical issues to relevant stakeholders across functional groups.
- Resolve scheduling conflicts, operational challenges, and technical problems through data analysis and collaborative problem-solving while maintaining strict quality standards.
- Remain actively involved with the team to meet schedules and address challenges in real time.
- Collaborate with engineering and quality assurance teams to establish and refine operational methods, processes, policies, and procedures.
- Recommend improvements to materials, equipment, tooling, and procedures to enhance efficiency, product quality, and operational effectiveness.
- Ensure compliance with aerospace industry standards, specifications, and safety protocols.
- Execute performance-management activities, including coaching, feedback, and accountability measures.
- Embody organizational culture and values, support change initiatives, and hold team members accountable to company standards.
- Present technical information, operational plans, and recommendations to peer groups, line leadership, and cross-functional audiences to gain cooperation and alignment.
- The ability to understand and interpret technical schematics, diagrams, blueprints, manuals, and publications.
- The ability to review work instructions, screen for discrepancies, and offer feedback to various engineering teams.
- Experience identifying issue root causes and planning corrective actions, with a demonstrated history of ensuring product quality and conformance to engineering requirements.
- Previous management or lead experience in a manufacturing, maintenance, repair, and overhaul, or production environment; the ability to recruit employees; assign, direct, and evaluate their work; and oversee the development and maintenance of staff competence.
- Experience in schedule-risk identification and mitigation planning, with the ability to provide or develop required data and reporting to support departmental targets and improvement objectives.
- A proven safety mindset and the ability to lead improvements to area safety and efficiency through shop-floor audits and continuous improvement.
- Experience continuously improving process efficiency, manpower utilization, and overall productivity.
- A background in the aerospace and defense industry, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. military.
- The ability to adapt to constantly changing work assignments and a fast-paced work environment.
- Experience applying Lean Manufacturing principles.
- Willingness and flexibility to travel for short and extended trips as required.
- Availability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary.
Sierra Space provides a space-as-a-service platform in low-Earth orbit with three main divisions: Transportation (Dream Chaser spaceplane), Destinations (LIFE inflatable habitat), and Applications (satellite buses such as Velocity, Horizon, and Titan) for government and commercial customers, including NASA and the DoD. Dream Chaser is a reusable lifting-body spaceplane that carries cargo (and future crew), launches with a detachable Shooting Star module, and can land on conventional runways for rapid cargo access. The LIFE habitat is an inflatable, three-story module that can operate in LEO, on the Moon, or for Mars missions and feeds into the Orbital Reef commercial space station concept with Blue Origin. The company aims to enable a growing LEO economy by delivering integrated space infrastructure and services—transportation, habitats, and satellite platforms—for government missions, commercial activity, and secure national space capabilities.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
Series C
Total Funding
$2.3B
Headquarters
Louisville, Colorado
Founded
2021
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- March 2026’s $550 million Series C lifted valuation to $8 billion.
- June 2026 CFO Jeff Schrader and government-relations hire Jill Pomeroy sharpen execution.
- SDA Tranche 3 tracking contracts and Leidos sensors validate Sierra Space’s defense pipeline.
What critics are saying
- Dream Chaser’s first flight shifted to a late-2026 free-flyer after NASA rebaselining.
- A failed Tenacity demo would freeze crew ambitions and weaken Sierra Space’s launch narrative.
- Revenue concentration in SDA and classified customers leaves procurement cuts immediately painful.
What makes Sierra Space unique
- Dream Chaser’s runway landing and 1.5g return stay unmatched in commercial space.
- Sierra Space combines spacecraft, satellites, and subsystems under one defense-tech supplier umbrella.
- John Shaw and Dan Jablonsky deepen national security credibility with Pentagon and NASA buyers.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life Insurance
401(k) Retirement Plan
401(k) Company Match
Paid Vacation
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -1%1 year growth
↓ -3%2 year growth
↓ -1%Sierra Space has secured contracts with undisclosed national security and commercial customers to carry payloads on Dream Chaser's inaugural flight. The reusable spaceplane will serve national security, commercial, and civil customers through NASA's Cargo Resupply Services programme on a single mission. Dream Chaser is the only commercial spaceplane capable of returning cargo from orbit at less than 1.5g and landing on any 737-capable runway. Its unique pressurized volume and controlled runway return allow customers to fly hardware with partial space certification rather than full environmental qualification, reducing development costs. The spacecraft will launch from Kennedy Space Center, conduct multiday orbital operations, and land at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Sierra Space is finalising the manifest with defence, civil, and commercial payloads for the mission.
Sierra Space has selected Leidos to provide infrared sensing payloads for 18 missile warning and tracking satellites as part of the Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 (AMDT3) Tracking Layer programme. The satellites will detect and track hypersonic and other advanced missile threats from low Earth orbit. Leidos' payloads combine infrared sensing with onboard digital signal processing, enabling mission-relevant tracking data to be generated directly aboard the satellite. The company will also provide ground support equipment and operations support throughout the programme. The award extends Leidos' contributions across Space Development Agency tranches 0, 1, and 2. The company's four Tranche 0 payloads have operated successfully since 2023, and it is delivering 14 sensors for Tranche 1 and 16 for Tranche 2.
Exploration Company in talks for $2bn round led by Bessemer, Atomico. Advertisements The Exploration Company, a Franco-German startup building reusable space capsules, is in advanced talks for a funding round that would value the company at roughly $2 billion post-money. Bessemer Venture Partners and Atomico are negotiating to co-lead the round, which is expected to raise approximately $254 million. The deal would mark one of Europe's largest space-tech rounds this year and position the Munich-headquartered company alongside a handful of private space ventures commanding multi-billion-dollar valuations. $2 billion Target post-money valuation for The Exploration Company's current funding round Advertisements What Logicity know about the round. The company has previously raised around $550 million in total funding. This round would push cumulative investment past $800 million and give The Exploration Company firepower to accelerate development of its Nyx capsule system, designed for orbital and suborbital cargo transport. Existing backers include Heartcore Capital, Plural Platform, Balderton, and the European Innovation Council's venture arm. The EIC's European Space Fund, backed by EIF, has been competing to participate in the round alongside the new lead investors. Founded in 2021 by CEO Hélène Huby, the company has built its thesis around reusable capsule technology that can return payloads to Earth. It secured a €770 million contract in late 2023 and announced headquarters in the US with a facility set up in Brownsville, Texas, signaling ambitions beyond the European market. Why Bessemer and Atomico are betting on space now. European space investment has lagged behind the US, where SpaceX dominates launch and Rocket Lab has carved out a significant niche. But recent movement in European defense spending and a push for sovereign launch capability have created tailwinds for homegrown players. Atomico has been building exposure to capital-intensive deep tech, while Bessemer has a long history in space through investments in Rocket Lab and Planet Labs. Their joint lead suggests conviction that The Exploration Company can compete globally, not just serve European institutional customers. The timing aligns with broader European government efforts to reduce reliance on US launch providers. French and German space agencies have signaled interest in supporting reusable capsule development for science missions and satellite servicing. Advertisements The competitive picture. The Exploration Company's funding trail mirrors other European deep-tech raises. Isar Aerospace, another German space startup, raised €165 million last year. Swedish satellite company Ovzon closed a €2 billion deal earlier this year. The company is part of a cohort trying to prove that Europe can build space infrastructure at scale. In the US, Sierra Space is developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane for cargo missions. The Exploration Company's Nyx capsule targets a different form factor but competes for similar commercial and government contracts. Logicity's take. A $2 billion valuation for a pre-revenue space capsule company is aggressive, but Bessemer and Atomico are not writing checks on vibes alone. The real signal here is that major VCs now see a path to returns in European space beyond government grants. For founders in adjacent hardware sectors, watch whether this round closes at the reported terms. If it does, it raises the ceiling for what European deep-tech startups can command. What happens next. The round is not yet closed. Terms could shift, and the final investor syndicate may include additional participants from the EIC or sovereign funds. If the deal lands near the reported $2 billion mark, The Exploration Company will become one of Europe's most valuable private space companies. The next milestone to watch: whether Nyx reaches orbit on schedule. Hardware startups at this valuation live or die by technical execution, and investors will want proof that the capsule can perform before any talk of a follow-on round. Need help implementing this? Logicity helps founders track funding trends and identify comparable deals for benchmarking. Reach out to its research team if you're raising and need market context. Advertisements Huma Shazia Senior AI & Tech Writer Produced with AI assistance and reviewed by the Logicity editorial team. Learn more in its Editorial Policy.
Papa Johns CFO Ravi Thanawala is leaving to become chief financial officer of American Eagle Outfitters. Chris Collins, SVP of corporate finance, will serve as interim CFO whilst the company searches for a permanent replacement. Comcast's former CFO Michael Angelakis will become CEO as part of a planned split between its media and technology businesses. Angelakis served as CFO from 2008 to 2015 before founding investment firm Atairos. Greggs CFO Richard Hutton is retiring after 28 years with the UK bakery chain. Ben Waldron will join as CFO designate in October and assume the role from January 2027. Waldron spent 14 years at Bakkavor Group, most recently as CFO. Defence-tech space firm Sierra Space appointed Jeff Schrader as CFO from his role as chief strategy officer.
Sierra Space names Jeff Schrader chief financial officer. * June 30, 2026 * | News LOUISVILLE, Colo. - June 30, 2026 - Sierra Space Corp. ("Sierra Space"), a defense-tech space company delivering solutions for the nation's most critical missions and advancing the future of security in space, announced today the appointment of Jeff Schrader as chief financial officer. Schrader, who joined Sierra Space earlier this year as chief strategy officer, will now lead the company's financial strategy, capital planning and enterprise execution priorities as Sierra Space advances its next phase of growth. "Our nation depends on us to execute and deliver," said Dan Jablonsky, CEO of Sierra Space. "Jeff has a proven record in business and financial leadership, deep national security expertise, strategic insight and is the right leader for this role at a pivotal moment for the company. He has spent more than 25 years providing leadership on national security missions - from the U.S. Air Force to RTX to Lockheed Martin Space - and he brings that full capability to bear as CFO to help us scale mission performance, allocate capital with precision, and deliver on our customers' highest priorities." Schrader began his career as a U.S. Air Force financial analyst, advancing to chief financial officer for special programs and later the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. He held P&L responsibility as president of SEAKR Engineering and Blue Canyon Technologies, overseeing a combined workforce of more than 1,000 employees, and guided corporate development, M&A strategy and capital-efficient growth across complex aerospace and defense organizations. Before joining Sierra Space, Schrader served as vice president of strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin Space, where he supported a $13 billion business area. "I'm honored to step into this role at such an exciting time for Sierra Space," said Schrader. "Over the past few months, I've seen firsthand the strength of our portfolio. Both of our business areas - Satellites and Spacecraft Missions, and Space Subsystems - have significant differentiators and I am impressed by the caliber of our team. The opportunities ahead of us are significant. I'm energized by the chance to help shape our financial strategy and capital planning in service of the missions we support, ensuring Sierra Space is positioned to scale efficiently, invest wisely, and deliver exceptional value to our customers." With this appointment, and the recent announcement of Jill Pomeroy as senior vice president of government relations, Sierra Space continues to strengthen its leadership team to support critical customer missions across the defense and commercial space markets. About Sierra Space Headquartered in Colorado, Sierra Space is an industry-leading defense-tech space company. Sierra Space Corporation design, manufacture, and deliver satellites, spacecraft and space subsystems including reusable spaceplanes, hypersonic technologies, propulsion systems, and infrastructure for the nation's most critical missions. With more than three decades of space flight heritage, expansive classified and unclassified infrastructure and disruptive cutting-edge technology, Sierra Space is trusted by National Security, civil and commercial customers. Its flight-proven technologies advance its customers' missions, including safeguarding its nation, protecting space-based assets, and enabling the next generation of space exploration and economic development. Sierra Space is dedicated to defining the new era of space defense, strengthening deterrence today and preserving freedom of action for generations to come. MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected]