NASA Reviews

It is usually easier to move from one field to another if you can keep some things the same. For example, if at NASA, you could stay in your current role but be part of a project that deals primarily with tech - then you’d gain that experience. You might even consider a lateral move that would give you the experience you need. If you leave NASA, you could go to a contracting company that builds software for NASA or a company that specializes in aerospace software development. With your background as an SME you might be able to get on the program management track or do some other role (product owner or scrum master) that could allow you to get more involved in the tech space. Quality Assurance (compliance) is a very boring job, but could be something to consider as it gives you an eagle eye view of how programs really work from the inside out without you needing a ton of technical experience. Systems Engineering is also something to consider as it has some of the elements you are seeking. If you do the QA role, you probably won’t want to stay there though if product management is where you really want to be. You might also want to consider any role that allows you to deal with tech customers - where you will hear their concerns and where you will be dealing with them like a CSM. Again, not a place to stay, but a place to gain a certain skillset if you don’t already have it. It will sharpen you as a product manager. Any type of tech/programming experience helps too because you’ll be able to communicate with engineers and you will also gain an understanding of what is possible and what is not. It will also help you to size features that customers might ask for. This is key for getting projects done. Once you have product management experience it is easier to branch out to domains - especially if you focus on an area of product development that can easily transfer. For example, if you end up working a lot with data scientific and data engineering features - that knowledge will apply to many other domains - not only aerospace. If you decide to go directly from where you are now to a non-aerospace domain to become a project or product manager it might be a little more difficult because you are then changing two things (domain and title), but it isn’t impossible; having the MBA and PMP can open some doors. But it seems to me that your key differentiator is your scientific background and NASA experience - so related fields might be open to you. I wish you the best - I’m sure others will have other advice to help as well.

If you're not already, I'd follow recruiters and hiring managers of the places you're interested in on LinkedIn. Sometimes, they'll post jobs on their feed or offer informal interviews, which allows for a not-so-cold message to connect. That's how I've managed to network and land interviews. I was actually able to chat with a recruiter at NRG this way, but no roles lined up with my experience.