--- title: 'Head of Strategic Operations at ICEYE' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-strategic-operations-iceye-lisbon-ece7zxhd5rb8' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-09' --- # Head of Strategic Operations at ICEYE - **Company:** [ICEYE](https://feeny.ai/companies/iceye) - **Location:** Lisbon, Portugal - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-09-09 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/iceye/f3026b5d-c6c1-4ead-b6e8-46560ff51ce0 ## Job description Role highlights: - Head of Strategic Operations - Location: Lisbon, Portugal - Department: CEO Office - Reports to: CEO, ICEYE Portugal - Employment type: Permanent, full time - Workplace model: Hybrid (office first) - Employment is subject to applicable security screening (incl. SUPO, where required) Why this role matters: ICEYE Portugal is scaling on several fronts at once: a Lisbon Center of Excellence building AI-powered intelligence products, a satellite production facility ramping through 2027, ESA programmes, and a growing base of defence and civil protection customers. The CEO Office is the execution engine that keeps this coherent — taking ambiguous, cross-functional problems and landing them. You build and run that office: the operating rhythm, the strategic projects, and the small senior team behind them. ## Who We Are ICEYE is the world leader in sovereign intelligence from space. We deliver persistent monitoring capabilities to detect and respond to changes in any location on Earth. ICEYE owns the world's largest and most advanced SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation. To our customers we provide intelligence with unmatched quality, latency and revisit times, in any weather, day or night. To governments who choose to operate their own constellation we provide this proven capability as a sovereign system. ICEYE-built constellations serve customers in defence and intelligence, environmental monitoring, insurance and emergency management. We enable fast decisions that contribute to a safer future. Founded and headquartered in Finland, ICEYE operates globally with over 1000 employees across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. ## Your day-to-day responsibilities Operating rhythm & governance - Design and run the operating cadence of ICEYE Portugal: weekly leadership rhythm, monthly business reviews, quarterly planning and OKRs. - Own executive reporting to ICEYE headquarters and prepare board-level and leadership material the CEO can stand behind. Strategic projects - Own high-stakes, cross-functional projects end to end. - Turn open-ended questions from the CEO into structured options, business cases and decisions with clear owners and deadlines. - Prepare briefings and position materials for engagements with ministries, armed forces, civil protection, ambassadors and ecosystem partners. Cross-functional execution - Unblock execution across engineering, GTM, the production facility and central functions: find the constraint, fix it, move on. - Represent the CEO in internal forums when needed. ## Team & ways of working - Hire, lead and develop the CEO Office team. - Set an AI-native standard for how the office works. - Handle sensitive company, customer and government information with complete discretion. ## What we’re looking for Must haves: - 8+ years in strategy, operations, management consulting or scale-up leadership roles, with real ownership of outcomes. - Track record of running cross-functional programmes at executive level and getting them finished. - Strong analytical and financial fluency. - Crisp executive communication in Portuguese and English, written and spoken. - Experienced using AI tools daily to think, write, analyse and build. - Comfortable operating in a defence and dual-use environment, with the discretion that implies. - Comfortable operating at both the strategic and the practical level - Based in the Lisbon area or willing to relocate. Nice to haves: - Experience in space, aerospace, defence or other government-facing sectors. - Existing familiarity with the Portuguese public sector, defence and research ecosystem. - Top-tier consulting background (or equivalent) plus operating experience. - Prior chief of staff, CEO office or PMO leadership experience. - Experience scaling an organisation or subsidiary from fewer than 20 to 100+ people. Application Process - Screening - Interview with team - Final face-to-face interview Working at ICEYE At ICEYE, you’ll join a diverse and highly engaged team united by the ambition to make the impossible possible. As a global scale-up, we combine speed and ambition with the opportunity to take real ownership from day one. Your growth, wellbeing, and success are a priority, with continuous professional development, training opportunities, and a culture where collaboration is how we win. ## How We Work (Our Values) Make the impossible possible: We set ambitious goals and stay calm under pressure. We bring grit, optimism, and ownership when things get hard, and we keep moving until we find a way. - Be curious: Go deep, ask questions, listen carefully, and think critically. Understand the “why” behind decisions. - See the big picture: Stay close to what’s happening across the company so you can make better decisions. Consider how your work affects others. - Drive effective teamwork: Create psychological safety, invite different perspectives, and build inclusive teams. There are no bad questions. - Act as one team: We win together. We match tasks to the right owner and stay agile as priorities shift. - Have fun: What we do matters—and it should be enjoyable. Celebrate progress, take pride in results, and share the wins. ## Benefits Our benefits are designed to support your health and wellbeing, at work and beyond. We keep improving them based on employee feedback, and offerings vary by location. Talent Acquisition will confirm what applies for this role and location during the process. Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion We want ICEYE to be a place where people can be themselves and do great work. Different backgrounds and perspectives make us stronger, which is why we work to create an environment where people feel included, respected, and able to speak up. Whatever your background, we want you to bring your authentic self to the table. We’re committed to fair, inclusive hiring and equal opportunity. Everyone is welcome to apply. If you need any adjustments or support during the recruitment process, tell us—we’ll do our best to help. Apply now to start your ICEYE journey, and help us continue to make the impossible possible together. Read more about ICEYE and working with us at[iceye.com](http://iceye.com). ## About ICEYE ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: ICEYE builds and operates the world’s largest synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation, delivering persistent, day-and-night, all-weather Earth observation data and sovereign intelligence capabilities to governments and commercial customers. - **Entity Type**: Private (raised over €1B in total funding, latest round led by a €1B funding announcement) - **Headquarters**: Espoo, Finland - **Founded**: 2014 - **Founders**: Rafal Modrzewski (CEO) and Pekka Laurila (Chief Strategy Officer) ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Space & Satellite Technology, Earth Observation, Defense & Intelligence, Insurance, Natural Disaster Response, Environmental Monitoring - **Target customers**: B2G (governments, defense, intelligence agencies), B2B (insurance companies, emergency management, environmental agencies, commercial enterprises) - **Mission or purpose statement**: “We enable fast decisions that contribute to a safer future.” ICEYE believes in unlocking the potential of SAR data to make it more accessible for governments, companies, organizations, and people. ## Products & Services - **SAR Satellite Constellation**: The world’s largest and most advanced synthetic aperture radar satellite constellation, providing imagery and data in any weather, day or night, with daily and sub-daily revisit times. - **Sovereign Intelligence Systems**: ICEYE offers governments the ability to operate their own dedicated constellation as a sovereign system, providing proven capability for defense and national security. - **Government Solutions – Flood Insights & Wildfire Insights**: Near real-time building-level impact assessments that blend SAR data with damage analysis, enabling emergency teams to quickly assess damage, deploy resources, and improve recovery outcomes. - **Natural Catastrophe Solutions for Insurance**: Building-level data enabling insurers to rapidly evaluate risks and respond effectively to floods, wildfires, and other extreme events. - **Defense & National Security Intelligence**: Actionable intelligence for strategic responses to emerging threats, empowering nations to safeguard their people and national interests. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed - **Key Metric**: Total Funding raised — over **€1 billion** (as of the latest funding round, which ICEYE describes as a €1B funding round leading a new era of sovereign intelligence from space). Additionally, ICEYE secured a **€300 million revolving credit facility** to support continued growth. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not fully detailed in provided sources, but the company has closed multiple large funding rounds and credit facilities from institutional investors. Key partners include governments in defense, intelligence, insurance, and emergency management across Finland, Poland, Spain, Germany, the UK, Australia, Japan, the UAE, Greece, and the US. - **Growth Signals**: - Over **1,000 employees** globally, from more than 45 (or 75) nationalities. - Offices across Finland, Poland, Spain, Germany, the UK, Australia, Japan, the UAE, Greece, and the US. - Appointed **Eric Jensen** as Chief Operating Officer. - ISO 27001:2022 (information security) and ISO 9001:2015 (quality management) certified. - Satellites can be launch-ready within 15–24 months, enabling rapid constellation expansion. ## Competitive Advantages - **World’s largest SAR constellation**: Unmatched scale and revisit frequency (daily/sub-daily) compared to competitors. - **All-weather, day/night capability**: SAR technology pierces through clouds, smoke, and darkness, providing reliable data regardless of conditions. - **Sovereign offering**: Unique ability to sell entire constellations as sovereign systems to governments, creating deep, long-term partnerships. - **Proven commercial traction**: Deep integration with insurance and emergency management workflows, delivering quantifiable, building-level impact assessments. - **Strong certifications**: ISO 27001:2022 and ISO 9001:2015 provide customer assurance on security and quality. - **Speed to orbit**: Small, agile satellites enable rapid deployment (15–24 months from order to launch), a key differentiator in the space industry. ## Strategic Focus - **Scaling the constellation**: Continuing to expand the SAR satellite fleet to improve revisit times and global coverage. - **Sovereign intelligence**: Growing the “constellation-as-a-service” model for governments seeking independent space-based intelligence capabilities. - **Natural catastrophe resilience**: Deepening partnerships with insurers and emergency management agencies to improve community resilience and disaster response. - **National security**: Enhancing defense and intelligence offerings for governments worldwide. - **Global expansion**: Growing regional presence and operations across Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America, and the Middle East. - **Commercial diversification**: Expanding into new verticals beyond defense and insurance, such as environmental monitoring and critical infrastructure. ## Why Work Here - **Mission-driven impact**: Employees work on challenges that matter — enabling faster disaster response, protecting communities, and strengthening national security. - **Fast-paced ownership culture**: “At ICEYE, you take ownership early. You move fast, solve hard problems, and work alongside driven experts who care deeply about impact.” — ICEYE Careers page. - **Multicultural & diverse**: Colleagues from over 45 (or 75) nationalities, creating a truly international “NewSpace” environment. - **Values-driven**: Culture built on curiosity, collaboration, acting as one, seeing the big picture, driving effective teamwork, and having fun. - **Hybrid & remote flexibility**: Many roles are hybrid (combining office time with remote work), and some are fully remote within specific countries or time zones. Exact setup depends on the role and team. - **Benefits**: - Occupational healthcare, occupational and accident insurance - Time for self-development, research, training, conferences, or certification schemes - Relocation support (flight tickets, accommodation, relocation agency) - Yearly benefit budget (sport, transport, bike, wellness, lunch, etc.) - Inspiring office spaces with silent workspaces for focus - **Growth & learning**: Opportunity to work across engineering, software, data, product, and business roles — space/aerospace background not required for many positions as long as core skills are strong. - **Recruitment process**: Transparent and structured — recruiter call, hiring manager deep-dive, technical task (for relevant roles), team collaboration conversation, leadership discussion, and offer. Relocation and visa support available for most roles. ## Sources 1. [iceye.com](https://www.iceye.com/company) — Company overview, leadership, certifications, mission 2. [iceye.com](https://www.iceye.com/careers) — Careers page, culture, benefits, values 3. [iceye.com](https://www.iceye.com/careers/recruitment) — Recruitment FAQ, hybrid/remote policy, interview process 4. [iceye.com](https://www.iceye.com/) — Homepage, news on €1B funding, €300M credit facility, COO appointment ## Other roles at ICEYE - [EHS Senior Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/ehs-senior-specialist-iceye-valencia-4p37tycb1ecr) — Valencia, Spain - [Software AIT Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/software-ait-engineer-iceye-valencia-082hs1nf7wee) — Valencia, Spain - [RF, Satellite Systems & Software Production Team Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/rf-satellite-systems-software-production-team-lead-iceye-valencia-mg3sd96atkkc) — Valencia, Spain - [Warehouse / Logistics Operator](https://feeny.ai/job/warehouse-logistics-operator-iceye-warsaw-z1g5grp4tjz8) — Warsaw, Poland - [Facility & Lab Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/facility-lab-manager-iceye-warsaw-5mapw645f2z5) — Warsaw, Poland - [AIT Engineering Team Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/ait-engineering-team-lead-iceye-warsaw-bby7r1q0mv2a) — Warsaw, Poland - [Optical AIT Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/optical-ait-engineer-iceye-warsaw-yaq6zr0bhfra) — Warsaw, Poland - [Program Director - Germany](https://feeny.ai/job/program-director-germany-iceye-berlin-zyz9909nsn3t) — Berlin, Germany - [Satellite Production Senior Technician, Integration, Mechanical & Thermal](https://feeny.ai/job/satellite-production-senior-technician-integration-mechanical-thermal-iceye-89r7bsg8r2v2) — Valencia, Spain - [Satellite Production Technician, Integration, Mechanical & Thermal](https://feeny.ai/job/satellite-production-technician-integration-mechanical-thermal-iceye-valencia-edd21pbdwqwm) — Valencia, Spain