Role: Mission Lead

Reporting to:  Chief of Missions

Base: Harwell

 Do you want to be at the forefront of groundbreaking innovation? Are you excited about shaping the future of space technology to tackle real-world challenges in the UK and beyond? Ready to lead a mission that makes a tangible impact? If so, we want to hear from you!

At the Satellite Applications Catapult, we’re driving the UK Space Industry forward with bold ideas and transformative solutions. Our mission leaders are trailblazers—spotting opportunities, unlocking growth, and making a real difference through the power of space technology. This is your chance to work alongside top experts, collaborate nationwide, and lead a dynamic team in our matrixed organisation—all while helping to expand the UK’s space sector.

Our missions are aligned with the National Space Strategy themes: “Growing and levelling up our space economy” and “Using space to deliver for UK citizens and the world.” We don’t just innovate—we innovate with purpose. Through a mission-driven approach, we create the conditions for the space sector to thrive, drive adoption of satellite-enabled technologies, and accelerate UK growth while addressing key global challenges.

Are you ready to steer the way? Join us and be part of something truly extraordinary

 Purpose

The Catapult is recruiting a Mission Lead who will be focussed on increasing the integration of space data, technology and services into non-space sectors where the UK is globally competitive with the impacts of these interventions applied to nature restoration, emissions reduction and inclusive and resilient communities.

 At The Satellite Applications Catapult, we’re looking for a dynamic leader to spearhead a mission focused on integrating space data, technology, and services into globally competitive non-space sectors. Your work will directly contribute to nature restoration, emissions reduction, and building inclusive, resilient communities—turning space-enabled innovation into real-world change.

In this role, you will own and operate your mission like a business unit, with full responsibility for:

• Driving cross-functional teams to deliver on mission strategy

• Managing budgets, including profit and loss, to ensure sustainable growth

• Tracking progress against milestones and KPIs to keep momentum high

• Developing a strong pipeline of opportunities in collaboration with sales teams

• Ensuring that bids are well aligned between technical, delivery and commercial priorities.

Reporting into our Chief of Missions, this is a highly networked role that requires an ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines. It requires knowledge and skills in team management, leadership and collaboration. Strong commercial acumen and depth of knowledge and prior experience of working in a matrixed organisation, as well as experience of bringing different teams together to bid for and shape technical projects and services.

Please note: This role is based at Harwell, where you'll lead a dynamic team and collaborate closely with experts across the space sector. To drive impact, you’ll spend at least three days a week in our Harwell office or other locations —engaging with your team, fostering innovation, and making key decisions as well as working in the field, meeting partners, shaping opportunities, and representing your mission at key events across the UK. This is a hands-on leadership role where your presence and influence will make a real difference.

Key Responsibilities:

As the Mission lead, you will….

• Lead - Steer the Mission strategy and deliver it through a programme of well-defined activities in line with a mission plan ensuring realisation of outputs and outcomes towards the Catapult’s mission goals and objectives.

• Team management: You will line manage Mission Managers who form part of your core team and build an extended team through the matrixed organisation.

• Revenue focus: Grow the mission sales pipeline, by landing projects defined in your mission roadmap, working with the Strategic Accounts and Technology teams

• Impact: Set up an enabling environment for the mission to be successful and impactful through collaboration with partners, providing thought-leadership for the space sector, unblocking challenges around policy and regulation and by creating and pursuing opportunities and delivery on commitments

• Agency: Represent the mission to key stakeholders and partners

• Operations: Manage the mission as a business unit with ultimate responsibility for its profit and loss

• Work processes: Manage risks and issues affecting successful delivery of the Mission

You will also be involved in…

• Developing a detailed work plan and a schedule for milestones to hit the milestones and impact measures for the mission.

• Preparing to adapt, pause or reschedule the activities if it is the best decision for the Mission and overall Catapult objectives.

• Think outside the box - activities will vary in maturity and scale, and therefore, intervention owners may be focused on different aspects at different times, for example framing big ideas whereas others may be focused on achieving funding and delivery. Interventions cannot be funded by core grant alone.

We expect that you would have the following skills and experience…

• Experience of building, leading and developing high performing, multi-disciplinary teams

• Ability to support the development of commercial opportunities to deliver of the Catapults purpose and your mission

• Leading highly collaborative matrixed teams

• A depth of knowledge in one or more key enabling areas for your mission - e.g. geospatial intelligence, Earth Observation etc

• Ability to inspire, in your own style, internal and external stakeholders

• Experience or ability to push conventional boundaries to create greater impact

• Expert influencer with ability to rapidly change and adapt as needed

• Aspirational thinker but pragmatic when needed

You will also need to be able to travel when needed within the UK.

You know you have been successful when…

Our missions capture the key growth opportunities and impacts from a space sector perspective, and our mission leads are at the forefront of this new framework. This is a unique opportunity to carve our new strategic direction, drive innovation and maximise societal and economic impact for the space industry.

How we work….

We strive to create a high trust, high performance and inclusive environment that enables team members to bring their whole selves to work – this helps to create the foundations of an innovation culture. Our shared values are critical to this:

• We care - for our people, our partners, and our planet

• We connect - and engage with people and ideas

• We learn - and grow, as people and as an industry

Underpinning this is our belief in great teams, our combined efforts will always deliver outcomes beyond that of any individual providing we are honest through debate, experiment and reflect, and create shared resolutions in support of our purpose. Live these values, work to our principles, take ownership to deliver, and we are certain you will thrive with us.

This job description set outs the skills and experience we think are needed to be able to perform in this job. However, if you believe you can deliver in this role then we want to hear from you.

Important notice for applicants: We use tools to detect plagiarism and the use of AI or chatbots for applicant answers. If plagiarism, AI use (such as ChatGPT) or similar software are found to have been used in your application you will not be considered for this or future roles within the Satellite Applications Catapult. If you need any additional support during the application process, please do reach out and connect. We also invite you to share feedback via Applied.