Digital Workplace Lead at Umbra

Description

Umbra is an American space technology company delivering advanced systems, from sensors to spacecraft, that empower customers worldwide with unmatched access to critical information from space. Our mission is simple and ambitious: redefine space—for people, systems, and missions in every domain. Umbra’s ecosystem operates through three business units: Remote Sensing (the data), Space Systems (the components), and Mission Solutions (the platforms). Together, our teams develop capabilities that deliver persistent access, resilient performance, and mission-ready solutions, advancing U.S. space leadership while keeping the world safe and informed.

The Information Technology organization underpins that mission by delivering secure, reliable, and scalable technology platforms that enable Umbra employees to execute with speed, precision, and confidence. IT operates as a shared service and strategic capability, embedding security, automation, and operational discipline directly into the systems the company depends on every day.

About the Role

The Digital Workplace Lead is a senior, hands-on technical leader responsible for the design, operation, and continuous improvement of Umbra’s employee technology experience, the platforms, services, and workflows through which employees consume and interact with IT from day one to exit.

This role is intentionally tilted toward technical leadership over people management. While the Director of Information Technology remains the formal people manager and accountable owner, the Digital Workplace Lead is responsible for execution, acting as the technical authority and top escalation point for the Digital Workplace domain.

Operating at the intersection of engineering, operations, and enablement, this role leads the maturation of endpoint management, service delivery, and automation—evolving the Digital Workplace from reactive support to a platform-driven, experience-focused capability.

Our aim is to hire this position to work in either our Arlington, VA office or Reston, VA office (coming soon).

Key Responsibilities

Employee Lifecycle Experience Ownership (Joiner / Mover / Leaver)

• Own the end-to-end employee onboarding and offboarding experience, from request intake through day-one readiness and secure separation.
• Act as the single accountable technical owner for employee lifecycle orchestration across IT.
• Partner closely with:
• HR for hiring and termination signals
• Core Infrastructure for identity, access, device security, and IAM guardrails
• Business Platforms & Architecture for application access, licensing, and role-based provisioning
• Ensure workflows are automated, auditable, policy-driven, and resilient.
• Continuously reduce time-to-productivity while ensuring complete and timely access revocation on exit.

Digital Workplace Platform Ownership

• Own the Employee Interaction Layer, including:
• End-user computing (Windows, macOS, mobile)
• Mobile Device Management (MDM)
• Collaboration and productivity platforms
• IT service management tooling and knowledge base
• Define and evolve Digital Workplace engineering standards, including endpoint baselines, patching compliance, and service frameworks.
• Ensure platforms are secure, maintainable, and aligned with enterprise guardrails.

Technical Leadership & Hands-On Execution

• Serve as the technical lead for Digital Workplace initiatives.
• Personally design, build, test, and deploy solutions alongside the team.
• Lead complex technical implementations, migrations, and platform upgrades.
• Act as the top-level escalation point for complex or high-impact employee support issues.

Service Desk & Operational Maturity

• Lead the maturation of a high-volume service desk, moving beyond ticket throughput to operational excellence.
• Operationalize SLAs and SLOs through tooling, workflows, runbooks, and automation.
• Establish repeatable incident, request, change, and problem management practices.
• Mature the team’s ability to surface trends and signals from service intake and telemetry.
• Translate recurring issues into strategic platform improvements or build/buy recommendations.

Automation, Integration & Continuous Improvement

• Drive service automation across endpoint provisioning, access requests, and common employee workflows.
• Partner with Business Platforms & Architecture to integrate ITSM, HRIS, IAM, and SaaS platforms.
• Reduce manual effort through policy-driven automation and self-service.

Cross-Team Collaboration & Governance

• Collaborate closely with Core Infrastructure, Business Platforms & Architecture, Platform & Mission TECH, and Security.
• Participate as a standing member of the Service Management Office (SMO).
• Contribute to ITIL practice design, service catalog definition, metrics, and QBRs.
• Promote a culture of cross-team collaboration and continuous improvement.

Team Enablement & Mentorship

• Provide hands-on technical guidance and mentorship to Digital Workplace team members.
• Act as an escalation and coaching point for analysts and engineers.
• Foster a culture of ownership, documentation, and operational discipline.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive IT experience with emphasis on digital workplace, endpoint engineering, and service delivery.
• Proven experience as a hands-on technical lead in IT infrastructure or operations environments.
• Deep experience with:
• Windows and macOS environments
• Mobile Device Management (MDM)
• IT Asset Management (hardware and software)
• IT service desk operations and operational maturity
• Demonstrated success maturing high-volume service desks and operationalizing SLAs.
• Strong working knowledge of ITIL principles applied in modern, engineering-led environments.
• Ability to translate strategy into operational standards and executable solutions.

Desired Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive IT experience with emphasis on digital workplace, endpoint engineering, and service delivery.
• Experience with Identity & Access Management (IAM); Okta experience is a strong plus.
• Experience improving employee onboarding and offboarding at scale.
• Familiarity with DEX platforms and service observability tooling.
• Exposure to regulated or security-conscious environments (SOC 2, NIST, ISO 27001, CMMC, FedRAMP).
• Exposure to Self-hosted / on-prem Engineering Platforms.
• Familiarity with GenAI-enabled IT workflows or automation.

Benefits

• Flexible Time Off, Sick, Family & Medical Leave
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, LTD, STD (employer funded)
• Vol Life, Critical Illness, Accidental, Hospital Indemnity, Pet Insurance (employee funded)
• 401k with 3% non-elective company contribution
• Stock Options
• Free Parking
• Free lunch in office daily

Umbra is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

Employment Eligibility Verification

In compliance with federal laws, all hired persons will be required to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the United States by completing the required Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9 Form) upon hire.

ITAR/EAR Requirements

This position may include access to technology and/or data that is subject to U.S. export controls pursuant to ITAR and EAR. To comply with federal export controls, all persons hired must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, refugee or asylee as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3), or must otherwise be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or U.S. Department of Commerce as applicable. 

Pay Transparency
This job posting may cover multiple career levels. To ensure greater transparency, we provide base salary ranges for all roles, regardless of location. Our standard pay ranges are based on the role’s function and level, benchmarked against similar growth-stage companies. Compensation may vary based on geographical location, as certain regions may have different cost-of-living factors. The final offer will also be influenced by the candidate's skills, responsibilities, and relevant experience.

Compensation Range

The Compensation Range for this role is $150,000 - $180,000 DOE.