--- title: 'Operational Technical Program Manager at Orbital Insight' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/operational-technical-program-manager-orbital-insight-united-states-g1r4r2wb3psm' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-20' --- # Operational Technical Program Manager at Orbital Insight - **Company:** Orbital Insight - **Location:** United States - **Posted:** 2026-09-14 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-20 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/privateer/jobs/5424073008 ## Job description Privateer Space, Inc., leverages geospatial data and artificial intelligence to provide critical insights across a variety of sectors and applications. In short, we help our customers know more, know better, and do better. Privateer is a leader in Earth intelligence and AI, integrating data from sea to space and everything in between to sculpt information into answers. Its advanced, user-centric geospatial analytics platform enables organizations to understand the present, anticipate the future, and make better decisions in the face of complex challenges. Co-founded by Apple pioneer Steve Wozniak, the company is committed to unlocking the valuable insights that will help problem-solvers address the world's toughest challenges and drive shared, sustainable use of our resources – on Earth and beyond. ## THE ROLE We are seeking an Operational Technical Program Manager (TPM) to bring structure, visibility, and execution discipline to complex engineering initiatives and federal project opportunities. This role exists to help the organization make and execute high-quality decisions by connecting technical teams and business functions, aligning priorities, and ensuring critical initiatives move forward with clarity and accountability. As a central program leader, you will work across Engineering, Product, Business Development, Capture, Proposal, Contracts, Finance, and executive leadership to drive alignment and enable timely decisions. You will have the opportunity to build scalable operating processes, shape how the organization evaluates and executes federal opportunities, and create the visibility leadership needs to make informed investments. This is a high-impact role for a technically fluent, highly organized operator who thrives in ambiguity, enjoys solving complex cross-functional problems, and wants to help a growing organization scale with greater speed and predictability. ## WHAT YOU’LL DO - Drive end-to-end execution of engineering projects, ensuring deliverables, milestones, dependencies, and timelines remain visible and on track. - Partner with engineering and technical leaders to develop and maintain integrated project plans and execution roadmaps. - Proactively identify, track, and resolve schedule risks, resource constraints, dependencies, blockers, and critical-path issues. - Establish clear mechanisms for communicating project progress, risks, decisions, scope changes, and timeline changes across stakeholders.Facilitate cross-functional execution meetings, drive accountability, and ensure timely follow-through on action items. - Own and manage the standardized federal opportunity assessment process from initial intake through Ag/No-Go decision.Maintain a structured federal opportunity pipeline with defined stages, owners, decision points, timelines, and required deliverables. - Coordinate cross-functional assessments across Engineering, Product, Business Development, Capture, Contracts, Finance, Security, Operations, and Executive Leadership. - Coordinate technical feasibility and solution assessments, including engineering effort, resource requirements, schedule, dependencies, risks, assumptions, and capacity considerations. - Ensure opportunity assessment requirements, deliverables, assumptions, risks, open questions, and decision rationale are clearly documented and communicated. - Provide leadership with a consolidated view of project and opportunity status, risks, resource needs, and upcoming decision points. - Develop repeatable processes, templates, dashboards, and operating mechanisms that improve program execution and decision-making. - Establish and monitor operational KPIs to improve predictability, efficiency, delivery performance, and opportunity assessment cycle times. - Continuously improve program and operational processes by incorporating performance data, lessons learned, and stakeholder feedback. - Translate complex technical and operational information into concise, actionable reporting and business-level communication for engineering and executive leadership. ## REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS - 10+ years of experience in Technical Program Management, Program Management, Engineering Operations, or a related discipline. - Experience managing complex, cross-functional technical programs involving engineering teams.Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives with competing priorities. - Strong experience with project planning, dependency management, risk management, and milestone tracking. - Experience working directly with engineering and technical teams. - Strong organizational and operational skills with exceptional attention to detail. - Ability to drive accountability without having direct authority over the teams involved.Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment. - Experience building and improving operational processes and workflows.Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities. ## PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS - Experience supporting U.S. federal government programs, contracts, or procurement processes. - Experience with federal opportunity/capture processes and technical solution assessments. - Experience supporting Ag/No-Go or Bid/No-Bid decision processes. - Experience in a government contracting, defense, aerospace, national security, or highly regulated environment. - Technical background or demonstrated ability to work effectively with software, hardware, systems, or infrastructure engineering organizations. - Experience with tools such as Jira, Linear, Asana, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Confluence, Notion, or similar program-management platforms. - Experience developing executive dashboards and operational metrics.PMP, PgMP, or related certification is a plus. ## COMPENSATION US Salary Range:  $160,000.00-200,000.00 The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers, and are considered part of Privateer’s total compensation package. ## BENEFITS We believe great work happens when talented people have the flexibility, support, and resources to do their best work. We offer a competitive total rewards package designed to support our employees both at work and in life, including: - Competitive Compensation: Competitive base salary and opportunities for additional performance-based compensation, where applicable. - Top-Tier Health Benefits: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with 100% of employee premiums covered by the company. - Flexible Time Off: A flexible time-off approach that gives employees the autonomy to take the time they need to recharge, travel, spend time with family, or simply unplug. - Work-Life Flexibility: A flexible, trust-based work environment designed to help employees balance meaningful work with life outside of work. - Paid Company Holidays: Time away to celebrate and recharge throughout the year. - Fun, Collaborative Culture: A team that values innovation, humor, collaboration, and having fun while doing meaningful, high-impact work. Benefits are subject to applicable plan terms, eligibility requirements, and company policies. ## About Orbital Insight ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Orbital Insight is a geospatial analytics company that analyzes satellite, drone, and other aerial imagery combined with AI to provide business and strategic insights, now operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Privateer Space, Inc. - **Entity Type**: Private (Acquired by Privateer Space, Inc. in May 2024; prior to acquisition, it was a venture-backed private company) - **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, United States (also operates offices in New York, NY; Arlington, VA; and has presence in Brazil, Japan, and Indonesia) - **Founded**: 2013 - **Founders**: James Crawford ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Geospatial Analytics, Defense & Intelligence, Commercial Satellite Imagery, AI/ML Data Processing - **Target customers**: B2B, Enterprise, Government (Defense & Civil), Commercial sectors (Insurance, Energy, Finance, Supply Chain, Agriculture) - **Mission or purpose statement**: To empower problem-solvers by providing unprecedented access to tools that help them understand the present and anticipate the future. ## Products & Services - **Elements Platform**: An all-domain data fusion platform that delivers AI-powered insights across land, sea, air, space, and cyber. Integrates satellite, terrestrial, and customer data streams for applications including traffic monitoring, supply chain analysis, pattern-of-life monitoring, vessel tracking, GNSS interference detection, and space domain awareness. Available via UI, APIs, and microservices. - **Taskable Satellite Network**: A capability to task satellite imagery collection over specific areas of interest. - **AI-Driven Data Fusion & Analytics**: Raw imagery and sensing data undergoes rapid AI/ML processing, then flows into Elements for fusion and analysis, producing actionable intelligence for defense, civil, and commercial use. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company). Prior to acquisition, Orbital Insight had raised a total of $130.2M in funding. Privateer itself raised $56.5M in a round concurrent with the acquisition in May 2024. - **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue estimated at $30.0M (as of latest available data); Total Funding raised: $130.2M. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Sequoia Capital (lead investor in multiple rounds), Google Ventures (GV), Lux Capital, Clearvision Ventures. In April 2025, Taiwan’s Far Eastern Group (FEG) became a strategic investor in Privateer. Partners include OMEGA SA (for space sustainability). - **Growth Signals**: Acquired by Privateer Space in May 2024, backed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Privateer). Privateer has indicated it is eyeing further acquisitions (CEO statement, June 2025). Won a contract from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) for maritime surveillance in the Indo-Pacific region (July 2024). Both product demos marked Awardable by the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace (June 2025). Recognized as a Best Tech Startup in Hawai‘i for 2025. ## Competitive Advantages - **Founding pedigree & talent**: Built by a team of engineers, scientists, and strategists with deep expertise in aerospace, AI, and orbital mechanics. Co-founder Steve Wozniak brings significant brand and credibility. - **Unique data integration**: Aggregates data from "sea to space" — satellite, terrestrial, and customer data — in a single platform (Elements). - **AI/ML at core**: Raw imagery undergoes rapid AI/ML processing, enabling automated, real-time insights rather than manual analysis. - **First-mover in commercial geospatial analytics**: One of the earliest companies to commercialize satellite imagery analytics at scale. - **Defense & intelligence credibility**: Secured NGA contracts and recognition from the U.S. Department of Defense, providing a high barrier to entry for competitors. ## Strategic Focus - **Growth through acquisition**: Privateer CEO has stated the company is actively pursuing further acquisitions to expand capabilities. - **Expanding into new verticals**: Targeting insurance, energy, finance, and sustainability markets with tailored geospatial intelligence products. - **Defense & government contracts**: Continued focus on winning U.S. government and allied nation contracts for maritime, border, and infrastructure monitoring. - **Space sustainability**: Partnership with OMEGA SA and focus on space domain awareness (tracking debris, GNSS interference) as a growing priority. - **International expansion**: Presence in Brazil, Japan, and Indonesia; recent strategic investment from Taiwan’s Far Eastern Group signals Asia-Pacific growth. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Described as a team of engineers, scientists, and strategists committed to answering tough questions impacting life on the planet. Employee reviews on LinkedIn rate culture 4.8/5.0, compensation 4.7/5.0, and work-life balance 4.8/5.0 (based on 47 reviews). - **Remote/Hybrid/Office Policy**: Hybrid working model. Roles listed include "Washington, DC Area - Hybrid" for cleared positions. Headquarters in Palo Alto, CA with offices in New York, NY and Arlington, VA. - **Notable perks & engineering culture**: Strong emphasis on AI/ML, cloud-native infrastructure (Kubernetes, Docker, Istio, gRPC, Terraform, Python, React, Mapbox, ESRI). Tech stack includes modern DevOps practices and microservices architecture. High concentration of talent from Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Planet. Engineering-centric environment with opportunities to work on cutting-edge space and AI problems. - **Growth trajectory**: Post-acquisition, the combined entity (Privateer + Orbital Insight) is well-funded and actively hiring, with a clear mandate to scale. The company is in a growth phase with recent contract wins and new strategic investors. - **Mission-driven**: Work has direct impact on national security, environmental monitoring, and space sustainability — appealing to those seeking purpose-driven work. ## Sources 1. [LinkedIn - Orbital Insight Company Profile](https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbital-insight-inc-) 2. [Privateer.com - Company Page](https://www.privateer.com/company) 3. [Privateer.com - Home Page](https://www.privateer.com/) 4. [Privateer.com - Careers Page](https://www.privateer.com/careers) 5. [Greenhouse - Jobs at Orbital Insight / Privateer](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/privateer) 6. [SpaceNews - Privateer acquires Orbital Insight (May 2024)](https://spacenews.com/privateer-acquires-orbital-insight/) 7. [SpaceNews - Orbital Insight wins NGA contract (July 2024)](https://spacenews.com/orbital-insight-wins-nga-contract-for-maritime-surveillance-in-indo-pacific-region/) 8. [ION Analytics - Privateer eyeing further acquisitions (June 2025)](https://ionanalytics.com/privateer-eyeing-further-acquisitions-ceo/) 9. [LinkedIn - Privateer update: Far Eastern Group strategic investment (April 2025)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbital-insight-inc-/posts/) ## Other roles at Orbital Insight - [Mission Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mission-software-engineer-orbital-insight-united-states-prrfxt216cr7) — United States - [Senior Manager, Army Business Development](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-army-business-development-orbital-insight-united-states-yjajc195dx8j) — United States - [General Application for Privateer Space / Orbital Insight](https://feeny.ai/job/general-application-for-privateer-space-orbital-insight-orbital-insight-united-efjjvdm9txbh) — United States