IT Network Operations Manager

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

Summary

The IT Network Operations Manager partners with IT leadership to shape and execute a long-term network strategy aligned to Firefly's business and mission operations. They are responsible for delivering scalable, resilient architecture engineered for the highest possible uptime—rockets and spacecraft don't get a free second attempt.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, customer-focused, detail-oriented, and comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

This position will be based 100% out of our corporate office in Cedar Park, TX

Responsibilities

• Set technical priorities and own reliability/performance targets that keep Launch, Spacecraft, and mission-critical data flowing.
• Direct the design, implementation, and maintenance of network infrastructure across corporate and mission-critical environments—from the office to the launch site.
• Implement proactive monitoring and alerting so issues are resolved before they touch a countdown or satellite pass.
• Oversee capacity planning and growth to sustain continuous operations at peak reliability.
• Develop and enforce standards and best practices for configuration management, security, and change control.
• Define procedures, tools, and responsibilities for IT support during test campaigns, launches, and space missions.
• Manage technical projects end-to-end and communicate designs and status to engineering leadership and executive stakeholders.
• Mentor network engineering and operations staff, closing skill gaps and growing careers.
• Lead incident response, root cause analysis, and corrective/preventive action.

Required

• 6+ years in network engineering or operations, with 2+ years in technical leadership or engineering management, including mentoring technical staff.
• Track record leading network and NetOps teams in fast-paced, mission-critical environments.
• Strong project management across competing priorities, with a "make it happen" attitude and excellent communication skills.
• Expert knowledge of enterprise networking—routing protocols, switching, and network design.
• Experience with network security: next-gen firewalls, VPNs, segmentation, and access control.
• Proficiency with observability platforms (SolarWinds, PRTG, Prometheus, Grafana) and alerting/response strategies.
• Solid grasp of enterprise wireless (Wi-Fi, controllers, mesh networks).
• Skilled in performance optimization, troubleshooting, and capacity planning.
• Knowledge of cloud networking (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and hybrid on-prem/cloud architectures.

• Bachelor's in Computer Science, Engineering, IT, or related field (or equivalent experience).?
• Certifications: CCNP, CCIE, Juniper JNCIP/JNCIE, Palo Alto PCNSE, AWS Advanced Networking, or equivalent.
• Experience in aerospace or other highly regulated, mission-critical environments.?
• Network automation / network-as-code (Ansible, Python, Terraform, APIs).
• History of leading network transformation or modernization initiatives, plus strong telecom/network vendor management.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.