# Vatsala Khetawat > Program Manager at Google | ex-NASA | Stanford GSB | ex-Rolls-Royce | ex-ISRO | Aerospace Engineer Location: Mountain View, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/vatsala I have lived, worked and educated myself in several places around the globe - USA, UK, India, France and Australia. I began my career as an Aerospace Engineer, working for top organizations such as NASA, ISRO, Airbus and Rolls-Royce. More recently, I transitioned to the tech industry and have worked for renowned companies such as Google, Walmart Labs, and PayPal. In addition, I have managed my family's retail business as an interim CEO, leading a team of 38 employees. I am honored to have received the Presidential Award from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam for my contributions towards India for Aerospace Development. I hold my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Aerospace Engineering from University of Sheffield in United Kingdom and my Master's in Space Technology from International Space University in France. I hold my Business Degree in Technology Management from UC Santa Barbara in California, USA. I also did a Space Program at University of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia. I am now pursuing Stanford LEAD Executive Business Program from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. I have experience of collaborating with peers from 100+ countries. I hold a Private Pilot’s License from United Kingdom. I have 11 publications including papers that got published at the United Nations. I also co-authored a book on Small Satellites published by Springer. ## Work Experience ### NPI Operations Program Manager for Google Products (Consumer Hardware) @ Google Jan 2024 – Present | Mountain View, CA ### Program Manager for Google Payments @ Google Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | Mountain View, CA Managed 44 concurrent programs for sanctioned screening and anti-financial crime prevention. Fulfilled all screening requests from the regulatory agencies while collaborating with internal partners to ensure that the same criteria for screening were applied to all Google products and facilitate commercial development, ramp readiness, and business development. • Enabled validation of every registered Google customer’s address and reporting of all known criminals’ addresses. • Integrated an address verification and normalization API with all paying customers’ accounts. • Managed a project to launch Fitbit E-commerce integration with Google’s Screening API. • Reduced process time by automating data collection and coordinating analysis and reporting. • Created and maintained the dashboard; delivered executive presentations; provided regulatory reporting updates to Executive Leadership; and maintained the artifacts repository. • Enabled tracking launches and gathering xPA approvals by creating a process document. ### Program Manager @ PayPal Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | San Jose, CA I came on board as the first program manager for global safety and security (which are crucial at an E-payment business), and established the performance standards from program inception to release. Onboarded globally distributed teams of employees to PayPal’s inhouse safety and security platform, and streamlined business operations. • Enabled onboarding of all tools at once (a one-flip release), since large amounts of data flowed between them. • Partnered with the product owner, engineering managers, and business stakeholders to prioritize requirements, conduct deep dives and business analysis, identify and track dependencies, create program plans and roadmaps, track product development, manage risks, conduct operations readiness and user acceptance testing, and provide post go-live support. • Examined user acceptance testing data, recorded the amount of training that all employees completed, generated reports for management, and developed training materials. • Managed program-level communications. Ensured that stakeholders were informed about roadmap changes, release plans, and delivery status. • Led program reviews with EVPs, VPs, and directors. • Drove resolution of issues, and facilitated executive-level escalations and change management. ### Chief of Staff for the VP of Engineering @ Walmart Global Tech Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Sunnyvale, California Led a geographically distributed online commerce team for the VP of engineering. Conceived new initiatives, cultivated core communities across the organization, and gave strategic direction for operations, corporate strategy, programs, budgeting, process optimization, performance management, and employee communications. • Formed the annual operational plan, increased communication with employees, and managed budget allocation across the engineering organization. • Assessed the value chain, business models, tools, and competitors. • Created 4 operational processes. Collated feedback from 15 cross-functional teams. • Maximized decision making efficiency by creating a comprehensive central dashboard that tracked key business metrics. • Partnered with the SVP, VP, and senior directors to finalize performance ratings for employees. ### Interim CEO @ Heera Metals Pvt. Ltd. Jan 2015 – Jan 2018 | India Stepped in as interim CEO when a family emergency meant I needed to put my Aerospace career on hold. You can imagine the anxiety and the mental stress initially and later the satisfaction and joy as my efforts paid off. Increased revenue by 120% and profit margin by 15% while retiring 100% of the debt at this 38-person industrial company. Improved the entire value chain, established innovation in the culture, enhanced employee communications, and managed all company functions, including operations, partnerships, new product initiatives, product quality, launches, product commercialization, brand marketing, business development, and finance. • Launched 6 new products, increasing revenue by nearly 90% in 32 months. Partnered with 4 fabricators to create the total customer solution. • Directed product operations. Drove ramp readiness, planned capacity, and strategized supply according to demand. • Managed the relationships with manufacturing companies, and ensured first-rate product quality. • Performed market-based research, and expanded the company’s verticals to transportation and construction. • Provided the enterprise sales strategies, oversaw the sales teams, and gave them the resources they needed. • Obtained >5 new enterprise clients and >50 individual customers by positioning the company and highlighting its value proposition. • Forecasted and added 4 new distribution channels. • Improved relationships with clients by meeting with them, analyzing their needs, and introducing new products. • Reduced material-handling time by 6x, and revamped the accounting system. • Made programs, operations, and business development data driven. Forecasted demand and trends by geography. Heera Metals Pvt. Ltd. is an aluminium trading company in Kolkata, India. It is a part of my family business. It trades in commercial products like rolled, extruded and hardware aluminium products from Hindalco, Century Extrusions Limited and Alom Extrusions Limited. ### International Technical Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations @ NASA Ames Research Center Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Mountain View, California Wow! Heaven on Earth! To work on important new international partnerships and collaborations and to help save the Earth from a future asteroid hit, under direct supervision of the Director of Partnerships and then directly under NASA Ames' Chief Scientist, is nirvana. Played a leading part in building the partnership with DTU (Technical University of Denmark) by identifying business opportunities, assessing feasibility, optimizing operations, finding and landing financial resources, and increasing communication between both organizations’ employees. • Conducted materiality assessment of NASA Ames and DTU departments, leading to recommendations for and implementation of joint small satellite and synthetic biology projects and a workshop. • Identified external and internal funding sources, and helped raise $xx million for NASA Ames by negotiating terms and conditions with multiple partners, including US Congress. • Developed a tool to organize international collaboration data for NASA Ames, facilitating ongoing partnership creation with international collaborators. • Further deepened the partnership by arranging additional meetings and workshops. ### Mission Design Engineer @ NASA Ames Research Center Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Mountain View, California MISSION DESIGN CENTER (MDC) Assessed the feasibility to combine Gravity Tractor capability with the Kinetic Impactor mission as part of NEOShield. Worked within Small Satellite Mission Design Center with attention to operations and asteroid selection criteria. NASA Ames Research Center, one of ten NASA field centers, has led NASA in conducting world-class research and development in aeronautics, exploration technology and science aligned with the center's core capabilities. ### Aerospace Engineering Intern @ Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram I received recognition by the former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, for my outstanding achievements in academics in Feb 2013. As a result of my interaction with Dr. Kalam, he connected me to the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). And as a result of my meeting with the Chairman, I was given the opportunity to work with the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Center. Worked in the Avionics entity, for familiarisation of various subsystems used in spacecraft launch vehicles at VSSC. Focussed on Control Actuation Systems Group (CASG) and Flight Computer Group (FCG). Got an overview of the systems and components for the rest of the departments: Avionics Parts and Production Group (APPG), RF Systems Group (RFSG), Control Electronics and Checkout Group (CECG), Digital Systems Group (DSG), Quality Control and Parts Indenisation Group (QCPG) and Computers and Network Group (CNG). The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation, focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme. ### Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program @ University of South Australia Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | Adelaide, Australia Worked in a team of 40 people from 11 countries in an intensive 5-week program to produce a white paper called ‘Common Horizon’. The Mission statement: “To propose collaborative solutions for the Global South that contribute to the sustainability of space for the benefit of Earth and humankind.” I led the ‘Space Weather’ team. My recommendations were incorporated into Indian Space Research Organization’s outreach program. ### Research Student in Space Systems Groups @ The University of Sheffield Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 | Sheffield, United Kingdom Worked with Professor Michael Balikhin at University of Sheffield, investigating the evolution of solar wind disturbances as they propagate from Venus to the Earth, by analysing spacecraft data. Conjugation periods between Venus and Earth were used to identify solar wind disturbances that are detected near Venus by VEX and later at the Earth’s L1 point by ACE. The evolution of these disturbances was studied as well as their possible CME source. Various properties have been investigated regarding their structures. ### Product Design and Product Development Engineer @ Rolls-Royce Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 | Sheffield, United Kingdom Designed and built an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) capable of safe, remote controlled and autonomous flight, in a team of 7 and with a strict budget of 600 pounds. We designed and built a Coanda effect UAV (an extremely novel vertical take-off UAV that uses the Coanda effect to generate lift). The maximum size of the UAV was 100cm including the propellers. The maximum weight of the UAV was 2kg. The budget of 600 pounds had to be divided amongst the aeromechanics and avionics team for equipment. I was the avionics lead and successfully designed the communication system, which included the GPS, HMI, autonomy and the associated ground station. ## Education ### Stanford LEAD Executive Business Program in International Business Stanford University Graduate School of Business ### Master of Technology Management in Technology Leadership UC Santa Barbara ### Master of Science in Space Technology in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering International Space University ### Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering University of South Australia ### Master of Engineering - MEng in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering The University of Sheffield ### Private Pilot Licence in Aviation Sheffield Aero Club (United Kingdom) ### ICSE and ISC in Science The Heritage School (India) ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/vatsala-khetawat --- Source: https://flows.cv/vatsala JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/vatsala/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13