Senior Operations Manager

Senior Operations Manager

Location

Cambridge, MA (Greater Boston area); must be able to work in-person from our Cambridge, MA office, with flexibility for one work-from-home day each week.

Company Background

Trailblazers are already building the road to space. It’s time to design, build, test, and launch the space infrastructure for a life worth living once we get there. Aurelia Institute is a non-profit space architecture R&D lab, education and outreach center, and policy hub dedicated to scaling humanity’s presence in space. We are a small, agile start-up team with big ideas that will impact the next stage of human space exploration.

Job Description

Aurelia Institute is looking for a Senior Operations Manager to drive execution across day-to-day operations and key organizational programs. This is a high-trust, high-responsibility role reporting directly to the COO.

This role requires exceptional resourcefulness and independent initiative. You will drive work forward autonomously with impeccable attention to detail while navigating ambiguity with sound judgment. You are someone who relentlessly triages dynamic task loads and unblocks themselves in their work, researching solutions and building systems to organize and track multifaceted projects.

Responsibilities

• Assist with project management across our portfolio of initiatives and programs, including exhibits, workshops, events, company retreats, internship programs, and other special projects as assigned.
• Own and maintain the organization’s core operational systems.
• Manage a dynamic and evolving workload, wearing many changing hats and effectively prioritizing and executing across multiple concurrent workstreams.
• Oversee procurement, expense tracking, and operational documentation, ensuring work is consistently accurate and audit-ready.
• Support compliance and administrative processes, including documentation, filings, and coordination with external partners.
• Manage logistics for travel and team operations, ensuring smooth and well-coordinated execution.
• Serve as a central point of coordination across the org, helping to track deliverables and deadlines.
• Build systems, trackers, and processes that improve organizational efficiency.
• Independently identify and resolve operational issues, maintaining forward momentum at all times.
• Support external communications, from routine inquiries to VIP relationship management.

Required Experience & Skills

• Bachelor Degree (preferred: a humanities or liberal arts degree with strong technical skills and extensive experience working with technical teams)
• 3+ years of experience in program or project management, preferably in the space industry, academia, or nonprofit sector
• Experience managing and executing a dynamic quickly-evolving task list with ability to expertly triage simultaneous conflicting priorities
• Able to independently research and learn, resolving new/unfamiliar problems quickly while always driving work forward
• Deep familiarity with AI tools, including strong intuition for working with the latest models and building agentic workflows
• Extensive experience with the latest project management and operations software (e.g., enterprise Google Workspace, Zoom, Airtable, Docusign, Slack, etc.), including mastery of advanced features
• Impeccable, audit-ready attention to detail
• Highly proactive, with a resourceful, inventive, and rigorous approach to problem-solving
• Excellent communication skills, including clear, professional written communication and strong judgment in navigating external relationships with diplomacy and discretion

Preferred Experience & Skills

• Masters Degree with strong technical skills and extensive experience working with technical teams
• Experience managing the full lifecycle of a large team project at the university or higher level
• Direct prior experience as a Chief of Staff, high-level EA, or high-level administrator
• Experience in event planning/management
• Passion for space exploration and education
• Experience working at an early-stage startup, preferably a non-profit startup

Other Job Details

This position is a full-time, in-person, salaried employee role. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, 401k matching, and a generous vacation policy.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the US and successfully pass a standard workplace background check. Candidates must also be willing to travel occasionally for conferences, remote exhibits, or other events.

Physical Requirements: ability to lift and carry up to 40 pounds and perform occasional physical tasks both indoors and outdoors associated with events, exhibit installations, or other operations as required.