Associate Director, Solutions Automation

Company Overview

Iridium is an award-winning and innovative satellite communications company with bragging rights to the only network that offers voice and data connectivity anywhere in the world.   For over 20 years, Iridium’s unique network and services have supported critical communications needs for individuals, businesses, and the evolving Internet of Things.

At Iridium, we understand the importance of staying connected and the limitations of traditional communications networks. People across the globe, including first responders, humanitarians, global militaries, scientific researchers, and lone workers, as well as ships, aircraft and remote operations all rely on Iridium to stay connected. We take our responsibility for providing these essential communications very seriously and pride ourselves on offering a reliable lifeline when needed.  Likewise, Iridium is committed to providing an exciting and innovative workplace, where employees are challenged to think outside the box and collaborate on new, bold ideas and solutions.  Our talented teams are passionate about their work and the impact our company makes around the world.  Iridium fosters an empowering and inclusive culture that allows employees to genuinely be their best selves.   We are looking for others who want to join this truly unique company that celebrates our employees and provides the opportunity to truly make a difference in the world.

What We’re Looking For:

Are you a seasoned software and test automation leader ready to take the next step in your career? Iridium’s Solutions Automation Team (SAT) is looking for an experienced Engineering Manager to lead a high-impact automation team at the forefront of innovation and quality.  In this role, you’ll partner with senior leaders to shape the direction of our automation efforts while guiding a team of talented engineers. You’ll oversee the development and evolution of our test automation framework, drive automated test execution, lead in-depth analysis, and optimize test processes that support the broader Solutions Validation Team (SVT).  If you are a passionate, people-first leader who thrives on mentoring others, champions technical excellence, and fosters a culture of collaboration, growth, and continuous improvement, we’d love to hear from you!

What You’ll Do:

• Provide strategic leadership across the Solutions Automation team to align technical initiatives with organizational goals
• Lead and mentor software development managers, fostering professional growth and leadership development
• Define and drive the long-term technical roadmap in collaboration with stakeholders
• Oversee resource planning, staffing strategies, and organizational design to support current and future projects
• Ensure high standards of software quality, maintainability, and performance across all development efforts
• Collaborate with senior leadership to develop and track engineering KPIs, ensuring visibility into productivity, quality, and delivery
• Champion continuous improvement in software development processes, tools, and agile practices across teams
• Serve as a key escalation point for cross-team dependencies, technical challenges, and delivery risks
• Drive initiatives related to technical innovation, modernization, and platform scalability
• Develop and manage budgets and headcount forecasts
• Represent the Solutions Automation Team in executive meetings and provide regular updates on progress, risks, and strategic initiatives
• Promote a strong engineering culture focused on collaboration, accountability, and inclusion

What You’ll Need to Succeed:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field; master’s degree preferred
• 12+ years of progressive engineering experience, preferably in software development, automation, and/or testing
• 3+ years of experience managing or leading a technical team; previous experience managing or mentoring software development professionals and leading agile teams is preferred
• Strong understanding of modern software development practices, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-native architectures
• Strong understanding of software testing principles, including test strategy, automation, and integration with the software development lifecycle
• Demonstrated ability to define and execute technical strategy aligned with business objectives
• Familiarity with engineering metrics and experience using them to drive performance and continuous improvement
• Experience with budget planning, headcount forecasting, and organizational design
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey products, deliverables, analyses, and/or issues clearly and confidently, and confidently recognize and adapt to different communication techniques
• Have a strong sense of urgency in driving projects to completion and be motivated to achieve outcomes and results

Things That Would be Great if You Brought to the Table:

• Knowledge of computer networking
• Exposure or experience with laboratory test environment
• Experience with budget planning, headcount forecasting, and organizational design
• Experience with software management tools (JIRA, Bamboo, etc.)
• Experience testing with the Agile Software Development methodology

We’ll also need you to:

• Be able to travel up to 15 days annually
• Be on-call to support operational issues
• This position directly performs under, supports, or is exposed to a U.S. government contract. To comply with the requirements of that U.S. government contract, applicants for this position must be U.S. citizen

Work Environment:

This position primarily works in an office setting and is largely sedentary with the majority of the position working with a computer. The role typically requires the use of basic office equipment such as a phone, video, computer, keyboard, mouse, and printer. 

Iridium is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.