Head of Spacecraft Engineering & Scale

Socket.dev; Denver; On-site; CAD 278,000 - 487,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) retirement plan

Time off & holidays

Job summary

Lux Aeterna in Denver, CO seeks a VP of Engineering to scale the spacecraft program. You will lead the engineering organization through growth, hiring world-class engineers and instituting cadence and judgment calls that preserve speed.

You’ll own execution across design review, integration, and flight, build processes with rigor but minimal bureaucracy, and partner with management to keep schedules honest and risks visible to leadership. Equity included.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in spacecraft/ aerospace hardware development.
• 5+ years leading engineering teams.
• Experience scaling an engineering organization from tens to 100+ engineers.
• Deep knowledge of the spacecraft lifecycle: structures, avionics, propulsion, thermal, GNC, software.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering organization day to day: structure, hiring plans, performance, and growth.
• Recruit and close senior engineering talent; build pipeline and interview process.
• Own engineering execution: schedules, BOM releases, test campaigns, integration milestones.
• Build lightweight processes that create rigor without bureaucracy: requirements management, configuration control, anomaly resolution, design review cadence.
• Manage vendor and supplier relationships alongside program management; ensure delivery.
• Partner with program management to surface risk early and keep schedule reality visible to leadership.
• Set the tone for engineering culture: intellectual honesty, bias for action, and candid communication.

Skills

Leadership

Aerospace hardware

Scale organization

Hardware lifecycle

Vendor management

Communication

Job description

Lux Aeterna in Denver, CO seeks a VP of Engineering to scale the spacecraft program. You will lead the engineering organization through growth, hiring world-class engineers and instituting cadence and judgment calls that preserve speed.

You’ll own execution across design review, integration, and flight, build processes with rigor but minimal bureaucracy, and partner with management to keep schedules honest and risks visible to leadership. Equity included.