Senior Ground Station Deployment Manager

About Elveo

Elveo is what happens when two pioneers in direct-to-device (D2D) communications join forces. Elveo brings together a combined 20 years of expertise to close the coverage gap for more than 50 mobile network operators (MNOs) and major distribution partners operating in 60+ countries worldwide.

That heritage and our technology powers what we call ‘elevated intelligence’ — a new approach that processes and adapts on orbit, delivering voice and data services straight to mobile users, IoT devices and machines across enterprise, government and humanitarian sectors worldwide.

As a team, we’re on a mission to deliver powerful compute and connectivity directly to individuals and objects everywhere on Earth.

Join us, and become part of a globally inclusive company that is transforming satellite communications from a niche service to an essential global infrastructure, and democratizing connectivity for billions worldwide.

Ready to take the next step? Join us.

Job Summary:

Lead the technical execution and operational qualification of Elveo’s global ground station deployment program, translating the engineering-owned standard design into repeatable deployments across a global network of ground stations over the next two to three years. The program will deliver approximately 20 sites and more than 200 antennas across the globe, with multiple sites in active deployment at once. Own the cross-site implementation plan, teleport-provider technical coordination, deployment readiness, acceptance testing framework (factory, site, and operational site acceptance tests: FAT/SAT/OSAT), vendor delivery accountability, and operational handover.

Partner with Ground Station Systems Engineering, Ground Systems Software, Ground Site Operations, Mission Operations, Telecom, vendors, and external site partners to deliver multiple sites in parallel. Provide deployment-driven design input, resolve site-specific constraints, and ensure engineering packages are complete, coordinated, and approved before execution.

This is a senior individual contributor role within the Ground Station Engineering team that leads cross-functionally and directs contractors and field installation teams. Success requires technical authority, deployment ownership, ambiguity resolution, partner accountability, and timely escalation of decisions before they become schedule problems. The role should reduce deployment variability over time while preserving site-specific technical rigor.

Role Scope and Interfaces:

Ground Station Systems Engineering owns the standard ground station design, technical requirements, RF and network design, Level 1/Level 2 procedures, and approval of design changes and deviations. This role owns deployment execution: the cross-site implementation plan; vendor technical accountability; site survey and civil works coordination; installation procedures and contractor work packages; the FAT/SAT/OSAT framework; readiness gates; and handover completeness, with authority to hold a site at a gate when required evidence is incomplete. Engineering approves the technical content of installation procedures and signs off technical conformity and deviations at acceptance.

The role directs field installation teams and contractors and travels for critical reviews, commissioning, and acceptance. Receiving operations teams assume responsibility for support at handover.

Once sites are in service, the role supports operations by coordinating physical field work. Engineering and operations diagnose issues; this role arranges the on-site fix, including teleport-provider or contractor dispatch, spares and RMAs, shipping and customs, and site access, and confirms the work is complete. Hands-on installation and maintenance labor, operations procedures, incident ownership, and management of GS engineers sit with other teams.

Core Responsibilities:

• Lead site evaluation, teleport engagement, and site surveys with engineering, operations, and qualified providers, balancing coverage, antenna placement, masking, RF interference, backhaul, infrastructure, cost, expansion capacity, and schedule. Track survey findings through design decisions and corrective actions.

• Lead teleport-provider technical coordination and hold vendors accountable for deliverables, quality, readiness, support commitments, and escalation paths. Provide technical input to procurement and legal on scopes of work, contracts, and SLAs.

• Own the integrated deployment plan and reporting across all sites, including milestones, dependencies, procurement, logistics, contractor mobilization, budget, cost risk, and recovery plans. Establish readiness gates, risk registers, and processes to keep progress, blockers, costs, and decisions visible throughout the rollout.

• Coordinate permitting, licensing, spectrum approvals, civil works, power, grounding/lightning protection, environmental provisions, backhaul, and site access with responsible specialists and site partners. Verify readiness before installation begins.

• Ensure site-specific engineering packages are complete, approved, and executable before construction; review designs for constructability, maintainability, logistics, and local constraints, and control changes to approved baselines. Author installation procedures and contractor work packages from the engineering-owned design, obtain engineering approval, and update them with lessons from each installation.

• Coordinate installation, integration, commissioning, and acceptance across field teams, engineering, software, vendors, and site partners. Own the FAT/SAT/OSAT framework, test planning, acceptance evidence, discrepancy tracking and closure, with technical deviations dispositioned by engineering, and sign-offs, and verify prerequisites and completion evidence before advancing a gate.

• Own the operational handover package and readiness review, including as-built records, configurations, acceptance evidence, spares, maintenance arrangements, support contacts, and training coordination. Obtain engineering sign-off and receiving-operations acceptance before recommending entry into service.

• After handover, coordinate physical maintenance and repair at in-service sites with operations, teleport providers, and contractors, maintain the site spares inventory and RMA pipeline, and feed recurring field issues back into the deployment playbook.

During Your First 12 Months:

• Establish and execute an integrated rollout plan for the initial sites and subsequent deployment waves, with clear owners, budgets, dependencies, readiness gates, and escalation paths.

• Deliver planned sites into service through the FAT/SAT/OSAT framework, with completed civil works, approved engineering, documented acceptance evidence, resolved or formally dispositioned discrepancies, and formal operational handover.

• Build a repeatable deployment playbook using the engineering-owned standard design and BOM, survey scopes, contractor work packages, procurement and logistics plans, and site readiness checklists.

• Implement a reporting cadence that identifies critical-path risks, resource conflicts, cost exposure, and decisions needed to sustain parallel deployments.

• Apply lessons from the first installations to improve later deployment waves, reduce rework, and strengthen schedule and cost predictability.

Qualifications:

• 7+ years in satellite ground segment, teleport, SATCOM, or comparable distributed operational infrastructure, including substantial responsibility for technical deployment leadership, systems integration, and acceptance.

• Demonstrated success delivering multiple infrastructure sites in parallel, including sites in more than one country, from site selection and acquisition through permitting, procurement, logistics, installation, commissioning, acceptance, and operational readiness.

• Has personally led commissioning and acceptance testing and made evidence-based calls to hold or release a site for service.

• Experience managing site partners and contractors through site acquisition, permitting, civil works, and international logistics, including knowing what to require of them and when. Familiarity with export compliance and the regulatory environment for satellite communications.

• Strong technical vendor and partner leadership experience, with a track record of resolving cross-disciplinary issues and driving accountability across internal and external teams.

• Sufficient technical depth in antenna/RF systems, networking, power, grounding, site infrastructure, and remote operations to challenge survey scopes, recognize incomplete designs, and engage engineering specialists effectively.

• Experience managing integrated deployment schedules, budget tracking, procurement and international logistics dependencies, and contractor/vendor commitments. Willingness to travel internationally for critical site reviews, installation oversight, commissioning, and acceptance activities.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate technical, operational, vendor, and schedule risks into clear decision-ready updates.

• Demonstrated ability to build deployment processes from the ground up, make sound decisions with incomplete information, and drive accountability across teams.

• We don’t expect any one candidate to meet every qualification. If you’ve led end-to-end multi-site infrastructure deployments and want to build this program from the ground up, we’d like to hear from you.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior technical leadership of teleport, ground station, antenna, satellite gateway, or SATCOM infrastructure deployments.

• Experience with GSaaS providers, teleport operators, satellite operators, telecom operators, or managed network service providers.

• Experience developing FAT/SAT/OSAT frameworks and leading systems qualification, test evidence reviews, discrepancy resolution, and operational handover.

• Experience scaling a repeatable infrastructure rollout across countries or regions, including local contractors, customs, regulatory dependencies, and support arrangements.

ITAR Requirements:

To comply with U.S. Government export control regulations (ITAR), applicants must be one of the following: (i) a U.S. citizen or national, (ii) a lawful permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) a refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) an asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158. Individuals who do not meet these criteria must be eligible to obtain the necessary authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. For more information, please refer to the ITAR guidelines.

Learn about ITAR here.

Job Location:

Chantilly, VA