Sr Technical Program Manager (Contract, Part-Time)

Come join us in shaping the future! Get in on the ground floor as an early member of our Program management team as a Sr Technical Program Manager (Contract, Part-Time) to enable our team in developing a revolutionary satellite communications system.

AscendArc is a seed stage startup founded to revolutionize the satellite communications industry. We are looking for doers who want to work in a ground-breaking and fast-paced environment. Our success will depend on your energy, skill, and creativity.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities

Cross-function scheduling and reporting. Can provide schedule and risk updates to external customers and internal leadership.

Manage against the formalized 2026 deadlines for 2027 deployment. Provide schedule recommendations to ensure flexibility though non-slip the deadline.

• Space craft OEM management.
• PDR/CDR schedule management and execution (assist in managing against delivery schedule)

Lead the adoption, implementation and use of a lightweight program management tool (e.g., JIRA) across the company, with minimal customization.

• Define processes and execute ticket management for engineering.
• Training for engineers (if needed).
• Dashboard/reporting.

Cross-functional project management schedule set up and facilitation.

PM schedule and reporting dashboards - for each team and a cross-functional dashboard to show status of all teams work for upper management.

Qualifications

• 5 years of program or project management experience in engineering, hardware, or cross-functional technical environments.
• Proven ability to build and manage integrated schedules, track risks, and provide clear status reporting to internal leadership and external customers.
• Strong experience managing toward fixed, non-slip deadlines and making schedule recommendations that maintain flexibility while protecting critical milestones.
• Proficiency with project scheduling and reporting tools (e.g., MS Project, Smartsheet) and ability to create team-level and cross-functional dashboards.
• Hands-on experience standing up and administering simple Jira structures—projects, workflows, ticket processes, dashboards—and training teams on usage.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional coordination across engineering, manufacturing, and operations, surfacing blockers and driving execution.
• Highly organized, proactive, and comfortable bringing structure, process, and clarity in fast-paced or early-stage environments.

Contract Type and Schedule

• Contract role: 12-month term
• Part-time: Approximately 20 hours per week; not to exceed 40 hours per week.
• Hybrid schedule: At least one afternoon per week onsite at the company’s office; remaining hours may be worked remotely.

Pay Rate

The hourly rate for this position is $80-100/hr. When determining an individual’s compensation, we consider several factors including skillset, experience, job scope, and current market data, so pay for this role may vary from the amounts listed.

Legal Eligibility to Work

Due to U.S. export control regulations, this position is only open to “U.S. persons.” That means you must be a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or have refugee/asylee status. Unfortunately, we cannot consider applicants on temporary work visas (such as H-1B, TN, O-1, etc.) for this role.

Equal Employment Opportunity

AscendArc is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor or legally protected status.