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Employer Quick Look

ViaSat, Inc.

(Public)  
Defense - Aerospace
2,500 - 5,000 employees  |  
Approx. 69 active jobs   |  Website
Overview
Digital Communication Products for Commercial and Government Markets

ViaSat began in 1986 with 3 people and under $25,000 in capital. The founders are Mark Dankberg, Mark Miller, and Steve Hart. The three had complementary skills and remain in key roles at the company today. Dankberg is Chairman and CEO, Miller is Chief Technical Officer, and Hart is Vice President of Engineering.

The initial business for ViaSat was obtaining contracts for engineering & proposal support from defense companies bidding satellite programs. Part of the agreement was that if these customers won contracts as a result, then ViaSat would be a subcontractor. After two such "proposal" contracts, ViaSat obtained venture financing of $300,000 from Southern California Ventures.

Despite this beginning in consulting, every contract was aimed at developing products to manufacture. The first breakthrough was to develop and manufacture specialized test equipment. This product may have been at the periphery of the industry, but created a product basis, and demonstrated ViaSat's ability to design & manufacture. Despite its very small capitalization and a declining defense budget, the strategy resulted in growing revenues every year, and a string of profitable years beginning in year two and continuing today.

A continuing strength of ViaSat is its wide breadth of products.

Our inital successes in defense and government related products continues today with our Government Systems division. Products include terminals, control systems, and training terminals for UHF and wideband military satcom; MIDS/Link-16 tactical communication terminals; data messaging processors and software for clear communication over noisy tactical channels; RF communication simulation systems; and secure networking products enabling encrypted communication over non-secure networks.

ViaSat has built its line of commercial VSAT products into the broadest in the industry. In April, 2000 the company acquired the satellite networking business of Scientific-Atlanta, adding the SkyRelay VSAT and Skylinx DAMA satellite networking product lines, the Satellite Ground Systems gateways and satellite antenna systems business, and a worldwide sales and service organization. Then in mid-2001 ViaSat acquired the VSAT products group of Lockheed-Martin Global Telecommunications, now known as our Comsat Laboratories division. Established in 1967 to perform leading-edge research and development, Comsat Laboratories pioneering role in satellite communication technologies continues today. Comsat Labs includes our VSAT products group and an engineering, research, and systems development business as well.

For the fiscal year ending April 1, 2007, revenues topped $516 million. ViaSat is nationally known for its record of rapid growth. Prior to going public, ViaSat was listed on the INC.500 list of fastest growing private companies three times. The company is on the Forbes list of "200 Best Small Companies", and the BusinessWeek list of "100 Best Small Corporations." In addition, ViaSat is an ISO9001 certified company.

ViaSat employs over 1,500 highly skilled professionals. In December, 1996 the company began trading as a public company on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Note: Comsat Labs and Comsat Laboratories are trade names of ViaSat Inc. Neither Comsat Labs nor Comsat Laboratories is affiliated with COMSAT Corporation. "Comsat" is a registered trademark of COMSAT Corporation.
Culture
Over 1,500 people at ViaSat believe in a bright future for the world of high-tech wireless communications. And why not? We've been growing since the company was founded over 19 years ago. As we've built our solid foundation, people are noticing. Besides our blue chip customer list, we've been widely recognized for our track record of success and growth. Along the way we made The INC. 500 list of fastest growing companies, the BusinessWeek "100 Best Small Corporations", Forbes' list of "200 Best Small Companies in America", and the FSB100 compiled by Fortune Small Business. Now we're just about to jump to the next level, and we need smart, savvy people who are committed to innovation to continue our momentum. The common bond in all we do is innovative, high performance communication, networking, and signal processing concepts for both military/government and commercial markets. When you join ViaSat you'll be intellectually stimulated and challenged by a variety of projects:
  • Complex engineering of some of the world's most advanced communications terminals and systems.
  • Software design for network control & management of satellite and terrestrial links.
  • Networking equipment design for voice, video, data and the Internet.
  • Funded R&D exploring new ideas and technology.
  • Communication simulation and testing.
  • A variety of business development, project management, corporate management and support positions.
Benefits
ViaSat, Inc. has an excellent, comprehensive benefits package. We are dedicated to providing the best benefits package possible to our employees, continually assessing these benefits and looking for ways to further enrich them.
People
There's no top to the technical ladder at ViaSat. Many of our best paid employees are not in management.

When you're on our front line inventing algorithms, developing software, and hardware, and integrating systems, we recognize your contribution in tangible ways: promotion from within based on merit - not just longevity, the opportunity to meet with customers to present your work, the information to understand how your work affects the bottom line, and the opportunity to pursue an interesting career path.
Contact
recruiting@viasat.com