Office Manager

company

Sophia Space is a venture-backed deep technology company building high-performance, energy-efficient computing systems designed to operate in orbit. Our work sits at the intersection of aerospace systems, advanced computing, artificial intelligence, and applied physics, enabling a new generation of distributed edge computing capabilities in space.

Having successfully completed our Seed financing, Sophia is focused on scaling its team, products, and capabilities as we prepare for the next stage of growth. We are building a world-class engineering organization that combines expertise from aerospace, cloud computing, robotics, and AI to solve some of the most challenging problems in space infrastructure. As both a product company and an engineering-driven organization, we actively leverage modern AI tools throughout our development process to accelerate learning, improve productivity, and help deliver innovative, environmentally responsible computing platforms for the future.

role

Job Description

Our engineers are building Athena, Sophia Space's first computer to fly in orbit. That work happens in our Pasadena office and lab. Every day, flight parts, test equipment, and supplies arrive at our door. We are hiring an Office Manager to own that front door, and the office behind it, so our engineers can stay focused on the hardware.

You will be the person who keeps the site running. You receive every package, match it to its order, and get it to the right engineer the same day. You keep the office and the lab stocked. You work with our building and service vendors when something breaks. When a new teammate starts, their desk, badge, and equipment are ready because you set them up.

This is a hands-on role with real ownership. Today, much of this work is done informally by engineers and managers. You will turn it into clear, simple processes that scale as the team grows.You will report to our VP of Finance and work closely with our Engineering and IT teams. You will confirm that what we ordered arrived, chase vendors when an order stalls, and support regular counts of our equipment and parts.

Sophia Space works at the leading edge of AI. We use AI tools and agents every day across engineering and operations, and we expect everyone to use them to work faster and better.

Location & Eligibility

This position is fully in-person at our Pasadena, California office, five days a week, during set business hours.

This position may require access to technology subject to U.S. export-control laws. To comply with applicable ITAR and EAR regulations, applicants may need to qualify as a U.S. Person, as defined under those regulations. U.S. Persons generally include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (green-card holders), and certain protected individuals as defined by applicable law.

Primary Responsibilities

- Shipping & Receiving (Primary) — Receive, inspect, and log every inbound package and freight delivery. Match each delivery to its purchase order and confirm receipt in our spend-management system. Match each delivery to its purchase order lines and confirm receipt in our spend-management system, including partial shipments. Attach the packing slip or delivery proof to the order. Report shortages, damage, or wrong items to Finance and the requester the same day  Route items to the requester the same day. Prepare and send outbound shipments, and manage our carrier business accounts (FedEx, UPS, and freight).
- Vendor & Order Follow-Up — Record each vendor's promised ship date on the order. Follow up within 2 business days if nothing has shipped, and weekly on critical-path items. Send Finance a weekly open-order report. Flag stalled orders to the requester and to Finance. Keep receipt records accurate so Finance can close purchases on time.
- Office & Lab Supplies — Keep office, kitchen, and lab consumables stocked within budget. Set reorder points for common items and place routine orders. Purchases follow the company card policy, with receipts and coding submitted on time. Report monthly supplies spend against budget.
- Facilities — Act as the first contact for building management and facilities vendors. Coordinate repairs, deliveries, and service visits. Keep shared spaces, meeting rooms, and storage areas organized and safe. Route facilities vendor invoices to Finance for payment, collect certificates of insurance from on-site vendors, and flag landlord charges to Finance. Does not sign contracts or service agreements.
- Onboarding Logistics & Visitors — Prepare desks, badges, and equipment handoff for new hires, in coordination with IT. Greet visitors and candidates, and support on-site events.
- Inventory Support — Support the baseline count and the regular recurring counts of equipment and key parts, using the systems IT and Engineering provide. Tag equipment above the company's capitalization threshold, keep the asset register current with Finance, and report disposals, losses, and transfers.
- Month-End Cutoff — By the last business day of each month, confirm all receipts in the spend-management system and give Finance a list of items received but not yet invoiced.

Required Skills

- 3–5 years of experience running day-to-day office or site operations, with little day-to-day supervision
- Hands-on shipping and receiving experience, including carrier business accounts (FedEx, UPS) and freight deliveries
- Experience using a spend-management or procurement tool (for example, Ramp, Brex, or Coupa) to track purchases or confirm receipts
- Experience following purchasing and receiving procedures, with accurate records and documentation
- Strong organization and follow-through. You close the loop on every package, request, and vendor issue
- Clear written and verbal communication with engineers, vendors, and Finance
- Comfortable with spreadsheets and shared online tools
- Comfortable using AI tools in day-to-day work — interested in adopting AI assistants and agents to work faster and better, with sound judgment about where they help and where they fall short
- Ability to work on-site five days a week during set business hours

Desired Skills

- Experience setting up shipping, receiving, or supply processes at a growing startup
- Experience with physical inventory or asset counts, or with an asset-tracking tool
- Familiarity with export-controlled (ITAR/EAR) or hazardous-material shipments, such as lithium batteries
- Experience coordinating office moves, buildouts, or facilities projects
- Experience coordinating new-hire setup with an IT team
- Demonstrated experience applying AI tools and agents (for example, LLM assistants such as Claude) to operations work — tracking orders, drafting vendor messages, or automating routine tasks
- Experience working in an aerospace, defense, hardware, laboratory, or manufacturing environment