John McNiff joins Iridium Communications as VP and General Manager

Iridium Communications has appointed John McNiff as Vice President and General Manager to oversee the crucial Space Development Agency (SDA) support. Tasked with steering Iridium’s involvement in the ground Operations and Integration (O&I) segment for Tranche 1 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), John brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the table.

John’s responsibilities encompass providing leadership and strategic direction for Iridium’s SDA-related business, focusing on vital operations and integration functions. These include enterprise management, network management, mission management, payload data management, and constellation monitoring across ground, link, space, and user segments of the architecture.

Prior to joining Iridium, John spearheaded the Intelligence Operating Unit at Microsoft Federal, concentrating on delivering Microsoft products and services to key national security customers. With over three decades of experience, John has held various executive positions within the federal contracting industry. Notably, he spent 16 years at Northrop Grumman, where he held senior executive management roles spanning programme management, P&L operations, business development, and corporate strategy. His career journey began as an engineer and product manager for leading commercial satellite and cellular telecommunication companies such as GTE and Iridium.

Speaking about the new appointment, Scott Scheimreif, Executive Vice President of Government Programmes at Iridium, said: “John brings a great deal of experience and expertise that will help turbocharge Iridium’s SDA operations. After having previously worked at Iridium as a product manager years ago, we’re glad his career has come full circle with him re-joining our team in this new role. We look forward to his leadership in driving smooth SDA operations and continued success.”

The Iridium team is actively engaged in maintaining cutting-edge, commercial-like operations centres and ground entry points, alongside leading ground-to-space integration endeavours. In light of these expanding initiatives, Iridium remains committed to bolstering its workforce by hiring for a variety of new roles.