Test Operations Lead

PAVE Space SA.; Villeneuve (FR); Remote; CHF 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

PAVE Space SA. is looking for a leader to run the test operations for a 45kN rocket engine program, coordinating propulsion engineers, technicians, and safety teams on-site in Villeneuve (VD).

You will drive readiness reviews, countdown discipline, and post-test analyses, ensuring safety, quality, and rapid decision making under demanding aerospace conditions. The role requires hands-on bench testing experience, strong knowledge of propulsion systems, and the ability to push for fast,

Qualifications

• 5+ years leading or coordinating complex test operations in propulsion, aerospace, turbomachinery, or high reliability hardware environments.
• Hands-on experience with test benches, facility commissioning, and campaign execution.
• Experience writing and enforcing clear procedures, checklists, safety logic, and operational constraints.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day test operations across propulsion and spacecraft hardware, from component testing through integrated engine hot-fire.
• Own test readiness reviews, go/no-go logic, countdown discipline, redlines, abort criteria, and post-test reviews.
• Develop and maintain test procedures, operating checklists, commissioning plans, anomaly response, and recovery procedures.
• Coordinate propulsion engineers, test bench engineers, technicians, data engineers, and safety teams through preparation, execution, and post-test analysis.
• Ensure test benches and facilities are ready: instrumentation, DAQ, controls, safety interlocks, fluid systems, and ground support equipment.
• Drive anomaly investigations from the operations side and ensure corrective actions close before the next test.

Skills

Test operations leadership

Propulsion testing

Aerospace experience

Fluent English

Safety leadership

Education

Engineering degree or equivalent

Tools

Test benches

DAQ systems

Instrumentation

Controls

Job description

Do you want to lead the test operations that turn rocket engine hardware into qualified flight capability?

PAVE Space is building LYOBA, a heavy kick stage moving up to 4-ton payloads from LEO to high-energy orbits in under 24 hours.

So, why now?

We're moving from design into frequent propulsion and spacecraft testing on our 45kN engine. Combustion chambers, injectors, turbomachinery, feed systems, and vehicle-level validation all need to be tested, understood, and improved quickly. You'll lead the operational side: preparing facilities, coordinating teams, running readiness reviews, executing campaigns, and making sure every test produces decisions. This is not a paperwork role. You will lead from the test site.

You will own

Lead day-to-day test operations across propulsion and spacecraft hardware, from component testing through integrated engine hot-fire

Own test readiness reviews, go/no-go logic, countdown discipline, redlines, abort criteria, and post-test reviews

Develop and maintain test procedures, operating checklists, commissioning plans, anomaly response, and recovery procedures

Coordinate propulsion engineers, test bench engineers, technicians, data engineers, and safety teams through preparation, execution, and post-test analysis

Ensure test benches and facilities are ready: instrumentation, DAQ, controls, safety interlocks, fluid systems, and ground support equipment

Drive anomaly investigations from the operations side and ensure corrective actions close before the next test

What we are looking for

5+ years leading or coordinating complex test operations in propulsion, aerospace, turbomachinery, high-pressure systems, or other high-reliability hardware environments

Hands-on experience with test benches, facility commissioning, and campaign execution

Strong understanding of rocket propulsion testing: combustion chambers, injectors, cooling systems, feed systems, turbomachinery, and integrated hot-fire operations

Practical knowledge of fluid systems, instrumentation, DAQ, controls, interlocks, and hazardous operations

Experience writing and enforcing clear procedures, checklists, safety logic, and operational constraints

You can stop a test when safety or data quality is compromised, and push the team to move fast without normalizing risk

Fluent English (our working language)

Nice to have: direct liquid rocket engine hot-fire operations experience, experience with high-frequency combustion diagnostics or rotordynamics, familiarity with HAZOP/FMEA and pressure system safety reviews, test site permitting and facility safety documentation, French and/or German language skills.

You will fit if

You're rigorous before the test, composed during the test, and honest after the test.

You know how to coordinate many disciplines without losing technical depth, and you make problems visible early instead of letting them surface late.

You can read a P&ID, challenge a redline, question a procedure, and still help fix a leaking fitting when needed.

You mentor junior engineers and technicians through real campaigns, not slide decks.

You want to build a test operations culture that becomes a company advantage: disciplined, direct, calm, and fast.

This is hard, early, and fully on-site in Villeneuve (VD), with our test site in Chavalon about 20 minutes away. Some tests will fail. Some hardware will need redesign. Some procedures will change after the first real campaign. We would rather tell you that now. What makes that worth it: you'll lead the operations that fire, validate, and improve a 45kN rocket engine in one of the most scenic test environments in the world, on the most ambitious space program in Switzerland.

We are building to ship, grounded on real hardware, real funding, real milestones.