VP, Customer Operations

About Us:

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company. We own and operate the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform and provide customers satellite imagery, automated analytics and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets and events from around the globe. BlackSky is trusted by the most demanding allied military and intelligence organizations and commercial companies to deliver foresight into critical matters that affect national security and the economy. BlackSky's data enables governments and businesses to see, understand and anticipate change as it happens, giving them the ultimate strategic advantage so they can act quickly. Our global team works with cutting-edge technology to make a difference around the world and prides itself on being people-first, customer-focused and fun.

The Vice President of Customer Operations is responsible for driving world-class customer experience, retention, and growth across a set of customers supported by the Account Management team. The VP will define the operational strategy, build global high-performing teams, optimize the customer journey, and partner with Sales, Product, and Engineering leadership to ensure customers receive maximum value from BlackSky’s unique real-time intelligence capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and scale multidisciplinary customer-facing organizations globally.
• Develop operational processes, KPIs, and performance dashboards that measure satisfaction and drive improvements.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop customer-centric teams across multiple regions.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with domestic and international government and commercial customers.
• Lead complex, high-touch, technical customer engagements with long lifecycle demands.
• Communicate effectively with executive-level and technical stakeholders.
• Drive strategies that maximize customer retention, recurring revenue, and account expansion.
• Build customer health metrics and forecasting models to track experience, usage, and growth potential.
• Partner closely with Sales and Business Development to ensure seamless customer success and expansion.
• Apply knowledge of remote sensing, geospatial analytics, and space-based intelligence solutions to customer needs.
• Guide discussions on SLAs, data delivery, system integrations, and operational workflows.
• Translate complex technical concepts to support decision-making for non-technical audiences.
• Design and optimize onboarding, support, and retention processes across the full customer lifecycle.
• Lead incident management, service reliability, and quality assurance initiatives.
• Map and enhance the end-to-end customer journey for efficiency and satisfaction.
• Translate BlackSky’s corporate vision into a cohesive customer operations strategy.
• Provide insights and customer intelligence that guide product prioritization and roadmap evolution.
• Work closely with Sales, Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Executive Teams to support strategic priorities.
• Represent Customer Operations in presentations to leadership, partners, and government stakeholders.
• Lead transformation efforts in rapidly evolving environments.
• Implement new structures, processes, and systems to support long-term scale.
• Drive modernization initiatives that elevate the customer experience and operational effectiveness.

Success Metrics

• Customer satisfaction and NPS improvements
• Customer retention and renewal rates
• Account expansion and usage growth
• Time-to-value and onboarding efficiency
• Operational reliability and incident reduction
• Performance of customer-facing team
• Adoption and impact of operational processes and tools

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business or related field
• 20+ years of total professional experience
• At least 10 years leading customer-facing teams
• Minimum 6 years in the geospatial or remote sensing sector
• Proven experience scaling global customer operations teams
• Strong operational, analytical, and strategic planning capabilities
• Experience with complex technical or government customer engagements
• Excellent communication and executive stakeholder management skills

Travel Requirements

• Domestic and international travel as required (typically 15-20%) to support customer engagements, team activities, and executive meetings.

Work Environment

• Fast-paced, high-growth technology and space industry environment
• Strong emphasis on cross-functional collaboration and remote teamwork
• Ability to work across multiple time zones and global teams
• Flexible work location depending on organizational needs

Life at BlackSky for full-time benefits eligible employees includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability, group term life and AD&D, voluntary life and AD&D insurance
  • BlackSky pays 100% of employee-only premiums for medical, dental and vision and contributes $100/month for out-of-pocket expenses!
• 15 days of PTO, 11 Company holidays, four Floating Holidays (pro-rated based on hire date), one day of paid volunteerism leave per year, parental leave and more
• 401(k) pre-tax and Roth deferral options with employer match
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Employee Assistance and Travel Assistance Programs
• Employer matching donations
• Professional development
• Mac or PC? Your choice!
• Awesome swag

BlackSky is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. #LI-Hybrid

Senior Account Manager, MENA

About Us:

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company. We own and operate the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform and provide customers satellite imagery, automated analytics and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets, and events from around the globe. BlackSky is trusted by the most demanding allied military and intelligence organizations and commercial companies to deliver foresight into critical matters that affect national security and the economy. BlackSky's data enables governments and businesses to see, understand and anticipate change as it happens, giving them the ultimate strategic advantage so they can act quickly. Our global team works with cutting-edge technology to make a difference around the world and prides itself on being people-first, customer-focused and fun.

BlackSky is seeking a Senior Account Manager who will be responsible for managing and growing relationships with key BlackSky government customer accounts and communicating the business and mission value of BlackSky’s imagery and analytics products. A successful candidate will serve as the voice of the customer within BlackSky, ensuring strong alignment between customer mission needs, program execution, and BlackSky’s commercial objectives.

This role is ideal for a government-facing account leader who understands how geospatial intelligence, imagery, and analytics are used in real-world operations and can translate those needs into long-term, high-value customer partnerships. This is a highly visible role that will directly contribute to customer satisfaction, renewals, and the continued expansion of BlackSky’s presence across government and defense organizations. 

This role reports to the Senior Director, Account Management and is a remote role based in-region in the UAE supporting international customers in the MENA region and will partner closely with BlackSky’s Customer Program and Success teams and the broader Account Management team. Relocation is not provided for this position, candidates need to be already located in the UAE.

Responsibilities:

• Manage customer relationships for key international government customers.
• Own and grow a portfolio of strategic government accounts, serving as the primary point of contact for customer leadership, program managers, and mission users.
• Act as the voice of the customer inside BlackSky by bringing customer feedback, needs, and risks to internal teams to influence priorities and deliveries.
• Coordinate with internal teams (such as Customer Success, Product Management and Product Operations) to ensure that BlackSky is meeting customer commitments, milestones and requirements.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers, understand their goals and articulate how BlackSky can help them meet those goals.
• Understand and communicate how BlackSky’s geospatial products and services drive customer value and goals.
• Drive customer satisfaction, renewals, and long-term retention across assigned accounts.
• Meet revenue objectives, drive overall strategic direction and expand relationships within each account.
• Identify and engage key stakeholders within each account, including technical, operational, and leadership decision-makers.
• Proactively identify and resolve issues that could impact customer satisfaction, delivery, or renewal outcomes.
• Other job-related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a business or analytical field.
• A minimum of eight (8) years of experience in Account Management, Customer Success, Program Management, or a related client-facing role supporting government or defense customers.
• At least five (5) years of experience delivering geospatial or imagery products and services.
• At least 3-5 years of experience in managing government and/or large commercial accounts, with demonstrated responsibility for renewals, expansions, and ongoing account health.
• Direct experience supporting international Ministries of Defense.
• Experience owning one or more strategic customer accounts with multiple stakeholders (e.g., programs managers, operators, analysts, or leadership).
• Demonstrated responsibility for revenue or contract performance, such as renewals, program extensions, task orders, or account growth.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional team to deliver against customer requirements and milestones.
• Previous experience with the Department of Defense and/or international ministries of defense.
• Ability to translate customer mission needs into product or service requirements, including communicating priorities, risks, and delivery timelines.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; fluent in English.
• Proven record of partnering with teams across the organization and influencing to achieve business results across multiple teams who may have different goals.
• Patient, adaptable and comfortable operating in dynamic, mission-driven environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Fluent in Arabic.
• Previous military or government service supporting imagery, intelligence, ISR, or geospatial operations.
• Direct experience working with imagery, remote sensing, or imagery analytics in an operational, analytical, or programmatic capacity.
• Master’s Degree in a quantitative field or MBA.
• Experience working with international defense or intelligence organizations.
• Experience supporting high-growth, technology-driven organizations.
• Ability to operate independently in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment while managing multiple high-value customers.
• Ability to anticipate customer needs and direction.