Suzi McBride returns to Iridium as Chief Operations Officer. Photo: Iridium

Iridium Communications revealed that Chief Operating Officer (COO) Scott Smith decided to retire effective March 15. In conjunction with this announcement, the company is welcoming back to Iridium new Chief Operations Officer Suzi McBride. McBride will assume this position effective as of Feb. 11.

Making a return to Iridium as COO, McBride will lead operations of the Iridium network, including the satellite constellation and associated ground gateways and terminals. This also encompasses all technology innovation on Iridium’s new network, including the development and manufacturing of subscriber equipment, new services, and applications. Prior to rejoining Iridium, McBride spent the past two-and-a-half years at OneWeb, where she served as COO and Senior Vice President (SVP). In that role, McBride built up OneWeb’s team of engineers and oversaw the system design, production and testing of the ground and space networks as well as user terminal development.

“We can’t overemphasize how important Scott has been to Iridium over these past few years. Bringing Iridium Next to life and building state-of-the-art, satellite-based products and services are, in and of themselves, a career’s worth of accomplishments.” Iridium Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Matt Desch said. “We’ve been spoiled to have Scott leading these efforts for Iridium, and now we’re being spoiled again by having Suzi back with us in her new role. We’re very fortunate to be able to wish Scott a happy retirement with a monumental achievement like Iridium NEXT  under his belt, while welcoming someone with Suzi’s experience, expertise, and leadership abilities.”