About Southern Launch

Southern Launch is Australia's leading spaceport operator, building the sovereign capability required to get to space and back.

Headquartered in South Australia, Southern Launch operates two of the nation's leading commercial spaceports, the Koonibba Test Range and the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex. Providing orbital and suborbital launch, hypersonic flight, re-entries from space and range services, for commercial, civil and defence customers.

Through regulator-proven, vertically integrated mission services, Southern Launch's unique infrastructure enables direct ascent trajectories to a wide range of orbital inclination. While more than 47,000 square kilometres of secure, remote operating areas support advanced testing and recovery operations.

About the role The Project Manager will coordinate the planning and delivery of launch and spacecraft re-entry activities, ensuring operational projects are executed safely, efficiently and in accordance with approved schedules, budgets and customer requirements.

Working across engineering, range operations, mission systems, infrastructure, customers and external service providers, the role will translate mission requirements into coordinated operational plans and manage the activities, resources, dependencies and risks required for successful delivery. The position will oversee projects through operational preparation, readiness, execution and closeout, ensuring teams are aligned and critical deliverables are achieved.

This is a hands-on project management role suited to someone who thrives in a dynamic, technically complex environment and can coordinate multidisciplinary teams, manage competing priorities and maintain delivery focus around time-critical operational milestones.

Responsibilities

- Plan, coordinate and deliver launch and spacecraft re-entry projects from initial requirements and preparation through operational execution and final closeout.
- Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, milestones and resource requirements to ensure operational activities are delivered on time and within approved budgets.




- Coordinate multidisciplinary teams across engineering, mission systems, range operations, infrastructure and other supporting functions to achieve operational objectives.
- Translate customer requirements and mission objectives into defined project deliverables, responsibilities, dependencies and acceptance criteria.
- Coordinate operational preparation activities, ensuring required personnel, equipment, facilities, services and supporting resources are available and ready when required.
- Manage project risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies, maintaining risk registers and implementing appropriate mitigation and contingency plans.
- Monitor project progress and performance, identify emerging schedule or delivery constraints, and implement corrective actions to maintain operational readiness.
- Coordinate stakeholder communications, project meetings, status updates and reporting to maintain visibility of progress, decisions, risks and outstanding actions.
- Manage customer, contractor, supplier and service-provider interfaces, ensuring deliverables, commitments and operational support requirements are clearly understood and met.
- Develop project budgets, monitor expenditure, forecast costs and report on financial performance, identifying potential variances and opportunities for cost control.
- Support operational readiness reviews, campaign coordination, change management and lessons-learned activities to improve delivery effectiveness and repeatability.
- Coordinate project handover and closeout, ensuring records, deliverables, outstanding actions, financial reconciliation and lessons learned are appropriately completed.

Qualifications

- A qualification in project management, project planning, scheduling or a related discipline,



or equivalent relevant industry experience.
- Demonstrated experience managing projects involving multiple disciplines, stakeholders, suppliers and interdependent deliverables.
- Experience developing and maintaining project schedules, budgets, risk registers and project reporting.
- Demonstrated ability to coordinate resources, manage competing priorities and deliver outcomes against fixed operational milestones.
- Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships across technical and operational teams.
- Sound organisational, analytical and problem-solving skills, with a practical and proactive approach to project delivery.

Preferred skills and experience

- Experience in aerospace, space launch, spacecraft operations, aviation, defence or another technically complex operational environment.
- Experience supporting launch campaigns, spacecraft recovery or re-entry activities, mission operations or time-critical operational projects.
- A degree in engineering, aerospace, science or another relevant technical discipline.
- Formal project management qualifications such as PRINCE2, PMP, AIPM certification or equivalent.
- Experience coordinating operational readiness, campaign planning, resource allocation and multidisciplinary delivery teams.
- Familiarity with risk management, change control, configuration management and project governance processes.
- Experience managing subcontractors, specialist suppliers, procurement activities and service delivery arrangements.
- Proficiency with project planning and reporting tools, such as Microsoft Project, Asana or equivalent.
- Demonstrated ability to adapt to changing operational requirements, work under pressure and learn quickly in a fast-paced workplace.

Security clearance requirements

- Applicants must be eligible to obtain and maintain an Australian Government security clearance through the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency (AGSVA). For more information about security clearance eligibility and the vetting process, visit the AGSVA website.

📌 Project Manager (Adelaide)
🏢 Southern Launch
📍 Adelaide