Sr. Business Manager, Aviation, Kuiper Customer Terminals

Senior Business Manager (Aviation)

Project Kuiper is an initiative to launch a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world. The Senior Business Manager (Aviation) is the relationship owner for Kuiper Customer Terminals and Module Contract Manufacturing partners and Prime Integrator. These partners are used for co-development resources, procure components, design, manufacture and test Kuiper's Aviation Customer Terminals for our growing set of aviation partners across the world.

Export Control Requirement: Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Key job responsibilities:

• Lead the sourcing, selection, contract negotiation and management of one or more suppliers in alignment with the overarching Aviation strategy. Ensure a competitive sourcing environment leading to continuous improvement in Engr. Services, Line Readiness, Quality, Business Management, Contract management and adherence, delivery, cost and social responsibility.
• Actively engage the Customer Terminal Aviation Operations and Engineering organizations with the contract manufactures and prime integrator on one or more products/product lines to achieve Kuiper's customer objectives.
• Lead the commercial and contractual aspects of the relationship and drive multifunctional teams.
• Leading the Supplier Performance Management and leading cross-functional business reviews.

This requires that the Business Manager be both an advocate for the supplier within Kuiper and be their harshest critic to ensure the best possible performance. Upon success, the Business Manager will instill a forward-thinking collaborative and mutually-beneficial long-term relationship with a holistic point of view, not just a product or single supplier perspective a business owner.

Technical - Solid understanding of the supplier landscape and capabilities in addition to specific technologies and manufacturing / testing methodologies using in Aviation. Create Supplier relationships to ensure Kuiper content is integrated in a way that supports our brand.

Negotiation Skills Lead all commercial discussions related to supplier relationships. Able to negotiate best-in-class contract pricing, terms and conditions on large contracts with suppliers who are exceptionally skilled at protecting thin margins. Exercise good judgement in knowing when and how best to address issues or drive change.

Contract Management Ensure that the suppliers execute and adhere to the contracts and renegotiate whenever possible to realize benefits from bundling work with Strategic Suppliers. This is not limited to dollars but being able to protect Kuiper's bottom line in all aspects IP, indemnity, confidentiality, etc. as these are all crucial to Kuiper's successful launches exceeding customer expectations and setting the bar worldwide for LEO constellation communication.

Financial Responsible for managing the business relationship including contracts, pricing, terms and conditions and claims. Must be an effective negotiator. The value of these supplier engagements can reach the billion-dollar level.

Relationship Builder Have the ability to engage, influence and arbitrate both the supplier and the Kuiper stakeholder organizations at the operational and Sr. Executive levels. Build excellent business cases and have executive presence.

About the team:

Kuiper is focused on providing broadband access to under served customers across the world. We are passionate about accomplishing this mission as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality or performance. We are constantly solving new problems and embrace people who thrive in a startup like environment and have an entrepreneurial mindset. Every day brings new challenges to Kuiper. In the morning, you may be working on the technology roadmap for the next five years and in the afternoon diving deep on a technical issue delaying a build. The ability to set priorities using high value judgement is a must in the role as you will have independence on focus on what you deem is critical to the organization.