Kick Stage Mission Manager
Programme - Villeneuve, CH
The position
- Crew
- Programme
- Location
- Villeneuve, CH
- Type of contract
- Full-time
Your role
PAVE Space is building LYOBA, a heavy kick stage moving up to 4-tonne payloads from LEO to high-energy orbits in under 24 hours.
Customer requests and RFPs are coming in faster than we can answer them properly, and each one needs real mission analysis before we can commit. Today that work either waits or pulls engineers off the product. You'll turn a customer's payload and target orbit into a credible mission, and a credible answer, in days, so the commercial effort never stalls on a feasibility question.
You will own
Mission design end to end: take a customer's payload and target orbit, build the trajectory, delta-V budget, and sizing, and tell us what's feasible
Trade studies that turn a loose customer hypothesis into a scoped, defensible mission, fast
The technical narrative of LYOBA deals: own the mission story in front of the customer, not just behind the scenes
The technical sections of RFP and proposal responses, written to win
Translating customer CONOPS and requirements into concrete LYOBA mission architectures
A reference library of mission scenarios, so the next answer is quicker than the last
What we are looking for
3 to 6 years in mission analysis, mission design, or spacecraft and launch systems engineering
You run orbital mechanics yourself: trajectories, delta-V budgets, manoeuvre planning, sizing
Comfortable owning feasibility end to end and putting your name on the answer
You can sit in front of a customer and own the technical story, not just hand it to sales
Quick and rigorous under deadline; an RFP answer that's late is an RFP answer that's lost
Fluent English (our working language); French a plus
A degree in aerospace engineering or the equivalent earned in practice
Nice to have: programme or project management experience, GEO transfer and orbit-raising experience, kick stages or orbital transfer vehicles, customer-facing or pre-sales engineering, RFP and proposal work, GMAT/STK/FreeFlyer or similar tools, defence or institutional missions.
You will fit if
You like the moment a vague customer ask becomes a hard number you can defend.
You're organised to the core: nothing slips, and your written work is sharp and easy to act on.
You keep a discussion moving toward a decision instead of letting it drift.
You're not shy in the room: you'll make the technical point with a customer or a colleague and hold it.
You move when the deadline moves, because you know a slow answer is a lost deal.
This is hard and early, and fully on-site in Villeneuve (VD) because we move faster in the same room. LYOBA is in development, so you'll be sizing missions for a vehicle still being built, with the unknowns that come with that. We'd rather tell you that than pretend the numbers are all settled.
What makes that worth it: you'll work directly with the CEO on every critical deal, in the room and on the calls, helping PAVE Space land its first commercial wins. This is harder than selling a product that already exists. You're earning a customer's trust in a vehicle still being proven, and your analysis is what turns interest into a signed mission. Few roles will shape where the company goes next this directly.
We are building to ship, grounded on real hardware, real funding, real milestones. Apply if this is you, or send it to the best mission engineer you know.