Senior Director, LEO Partnerships & Government Product Strategy

For specific work locations within San Jose, the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, the base pay range for this role is $259,000.00- $389,000.00/ annually: At Viasat, we consider many factors when it comes to compensation, including the scope of the position as well as your background and experience. Viasat and Telesat have formed a strategic partnership to bring Telesat Lightspeed LEO capacity into Viasat’s multi-orbit government portfolio, and the next six months are the window that determines whether Viasat enters field trials in Q4 2027 and service launch in Q1 2028 with a credible multi-orbit offering.

About us:

One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we’re on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We’re looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

What you'll do:

Viasat’s Government Services and Solutions team delivers secure, resilient satellite communications to government and defense customers in the U.S. and allied countries. Viasat and Telesat have formed a strategic partnership to bring Telesat Lightspeed LEO capacity into Viasat’s multi-orbit government portfolio, and the next six months are the window that determines whether Viasat enters field trials in Q4 2027 and service launch in Q1 2028 with a credible multi-orbit offering. You will lead the technical and commercial integration work that makes Lightspeed operational inside Viasat’s government products — specifically the Managed Private Network (MPN) architecture and the multi-orbit user terminal (UT) roadmap.

The output of this role is decisions Viasat will build on for years. The requirements, deployment sequencing, and vendor recommendations you produce determine where Viasat places its Private Points of Interconnect, which antenna and modem partners it commits to, how government traffic is segmented and routed across the MPN–Lightspeed boundary, and how quickly Viasat can stand up pilots for government customers and capture early revenue.

 

This is a six-month assignment with knowledge transfer built into the scope, so the work is collaborative by design. You will work across Strategy, Business Development, Product Management, Engineering, Customer Solutions, Security and Compliance, and the PMO, alongside Telesat program counterparts and prospective terminal vendors. You will also document what you learn and train Viasat teams as you go, so the capability stays with Viasat after the assignment closes.

The day-to-day:

On any given week, you might be:

• Defining MPN requirements for Lightspeed Large (4 m) Private Points of Interconnect (PPoI), including technical specifications, bills of material, and procurement plans with realistic lead times.
• Building PPoI implementation plans across domestic and international sites — site survey plans, spectrum and regulatory analysis, integrated master schedules, and integration, test, verification, validation, and commissioning plans.
• Running a trade study on PPoI deployment sequencing, comparing a globally balanced rollout (one PPoI per region, then scaling to two) against a region-first rollout (two PPoIs in one region before expanding), across technical, operational, cost, risk, and market impacts.
• Designing end-to-end terrestrial and cloud connectivity between PPoIs and customer service delivery points, including QoS tiering, SLAs, and mission-specific performance requirements.
• Defining mission segmentation, Impact Level (IL) routing policies, and traffic ingress and egress rules across the MPN–Lightspeed boundary, with the compliance artifacts to support them.
• Setting antenna requirements across Viasat GEO, Lightspeed LEO, and multi-orbit multi-band (MOMB) user terminals.
• Assessing ESA and phased-array antenna vendors on technical fit, Ka- and Ku-band performance, technology readiness level, and willingness to co-develop — then recommending a shortlist for scalable UT production.
• Defining modem and waveform requirements, including Lightspeed DVB-S2/RCS-2, M3, 3U VPX, Digital Transparent Service (DTS), and Viasat waveforms such as ArcLight.
• Mapping GEO–LEO orchestration: use cases, latency, jitter and throughput expectations, latitude and coverage considerations, failover logic, and resiliency behavior.
• Planning UT integration and test, and defining the Type Approval and Service Certification (TASC) path for UT–MPN–Lightspeed convergence.
• Maintaining the program plan — milestones, decision gates, and the risk register — and delivering weekly status updates that keep Strategy, BD, Product, Engineering, and Customer Solutions aligned.
• Writing the playbooks and running the training sessions that transfer this knowledge to Viasat teams before the assignment ends.

What you'll need:

• Experience with the Telesat LEO constellation service integration, from ground segment through service delivery.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related technical field, and 12+ years of satellite communications experience — or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience defining requirements for satellite ground segment and network architecture, including points of interconnect, terrestrial or cloud interconnection, QoS, and SLAs.
• Experience with satellite user terminals, including antenna requirements and modem or waveform requirements.
• Experience delivering satellite programs for government or defense customers.
• U.S. citizenship, with eligibility to obtain a U.S. security clearance.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally as program needs require.
• Based in the United States.

What will help you on the job:

• Direct Telesat Lightspeed program experience — working knowledge of the Lightspeed architecture, PPoI design, and the TASC certification process.
• An active U.S. security clearance, or a clearance eligible for reinstatement.
• Experience delivering multi-orbit services across GEO, MEO, and LEO, including orchestration, failover, and resiliency design.
• Familiarity with ESA and phased-array antenna suppliers and satellite modem vendors, and the credibility to open co-development conversations with them.
• Experience applying Impact Level routing and mission segmentation to government and defense traffic.
• Working knowledge of DFARS and NIST SP 800-171 compliance in a program delivery context.
• Program management depth — building and holding an integrated master schedule, running decision gates, and keeping a risk register honest across cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong writing and teaching instincts. The lasting output of this assignment is documentation and trained Viasat teams, not just decisions.
• Comfort working with dependencies outside your control. The Lightspeed schedule is set by Telesat, and your plans will need to flex as it moves.

Salary range: $209,000.00 - $329,500.00 / annually. For specific work locations within San Jose, the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, the base pay range for this role is $259,000.00- $389,000.00/ annually  : At Viasat, we consider many factors when it comes to compensation, including the scope of the position as well as your background and experience. Base pay may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Additional cash or stock incentives may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position offered. Learn more about Viasat’s comprehensive benefit offerings that are focused on your holistic health and wellness at https://careers.viasat.com/benefits. EEO statement:

Viasat is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, seeking to create a welcoming and diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, genetics, age, or veteran status or any other applicable legally protected status or characteristic. If you would like to request an accommodation on the basis of disability for completing this on-line application, please click

careers@viasat.com

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