Senior Production Engineer

Dawn Aerospace; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Dawn Aerospace in New Zealand seeks an accomplished industrialization leader to define the manufacturing vision for our spaceplane program. You will shape production systems, standards, and readiness criteria to scale from prototypes to multiple spaceplanes per year.

Reporting across engineering, manufacturing, and leadership, you will drive Lean, DFMA-friendly design, and data-driven improvements, ensuring quality, delivery, and regulatory compliance while expanding production capacity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent.
• 5+ years transitioning complex engineering organisations from R&D to production.
• Experience scaling manufacturing from prototypes to repeatable production.
• Strong knowledge of Lean Manufacturing and DFMA in highly regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop the long-term production strategy to manufacture multiple spaceplanes each year.
• Define the production operating model transitioning from R&D to production.
• Design and implement scalable manufacturing processes.
• Collaborate with design engineers to improve manufacturability and efficiency.
• Identify bottlenecks and remove manufacturing constraints.
• Improve data collection to enable data-driven decisions.
• Establish production planning methodologies and scheduling processes.
• Work with Supply Chain to ensure readiness and supplier capability.
• Drive alignment from prototype thinking to production thinking.
• Build a culture of standardisation, repeatability and operational excellence.
• Define manufacturing documentation standards and work instructions.

Skills

Industrialization strategy

Production system design

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Job description

At Dawn Aerospace, we are building the Aurora, a reusable rocket-powered spaceplane designed to make access to space as routine as aviation. Having demonstrated the technology through an intensive research and development programme, we are now entering the next phase of our journey, transforming how we build aircraft so that production can scale from prototypes to multiple spaceplanes per year. We are seeking an experienced industrialization visionary to lead this transformation.

This is a senior and foundational role responsible for establishing the manufacturing vision, production systems, and operational processes that will enable Dawn Aerospace’s spaceplane program to transition from an engineering-led R&D organisation into a repeatable, efficient, and scalable production business. You will work across engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, programme management, and leadership to define how products move from design into production while ensuring manufacturability, quality, and delivery remain at the centre of every decision.

Reporting to the VP of Spaceplanes, this role interfaces across the entire organisation. You will identify the organisational, technical, and operational changes required to support higher production rates while maintaining the agility that has enabled rapid innovation. You will develop production strategies, manufacturing standards, industrialisation plans, production readiness criteria, and continuous improvement initiatives that allow Dawn to confidently build multiple spaceplanes each year.

Success in this role requires someone who has previously helped scale a complex engineering organisation from prototype development into serial production. You will be equally comfortable developing long-term manufacturing strategies, designing production systems, and working directly alongside engineers and technicians to solve practical problems. Your success will be determined by the systems you build which should be both agile and compliant to regulations

If you enjoy building production organisations from first principles, driving organisational change, and helping shape the future of aerospace manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.

What You’ll Do

• Develop the long-term production strategy required to manufacture multiple reusable spaceplanes each year.
• Define the production operating model that supports Dawn's transition from R&D to production.
• Design and implement scalable manufacturing processes.
• Work closely with design engineers to improve manufacturability and production efficiency.
• Identify production bottlenecks and develop strategies to remove manufacturing constraints.
• Improve manufacturing data collection to enable data-driven production decisions.
• Establish production planning methodologies and manufacturing scheduling processes.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain to ensure manufacturing readiness and supplier capability.
• Drive organisational alignment around the transition from prototype thinking to production thinking.
• Build a culture focused on standardisation, repeatability, and operational excellence.
• Define manufacturing documentation standards, production travellers, work instructions, and visual management systems.
• Help engineering teams understand Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) principles.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor degree Mechanical engineering or equivalent
• 5+ years of experience transitioning complex engineering organisations / products from R&D to production.
• Demonstrated success scaling manufacturing operations from prototype builds to repeatable production.
• Strong understanding of aerospace or other highly regulated manufacturing environments.
• Experience developing production systems, manufacturing strategies, and industrialisation roadmaps.
• Strong knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, DFMA, Value Stream Mapping, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence engineering, manufacturing, and executive leadership.
• Comfortable operating in fast-moving environments where many systems are still being developed.
• Strong systems thinking with the ability to simplify complex manufacturing challenges.
• Practical mindset with a bias toward execution.
• Experience in aerospace, aviation, automotive, defence, or other advanced manufacturing industries is highly desirable.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Dawn Aerospace, we believe that diverse teams build better solutions. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences are valued and supported to do their best work.

About Dawn Aerospace

Dawn Aerospace is a space transportation company with a purpose.

Our Mission Is To Enable The Next Generation Of Space Users By Providing More Sustainable And Scalable Ways To Access And Move Around In Space. We Believe This Access, In The Form Of a Transportation Network, Will Fundamentally Change What’s Possible From Space. We Currently Focus On Three Areas Of Space Transportation

• In-space propulsion We're a leading supplier of turnkey green propulsion systems for various classes of satellites. Our systems utilise safe, accessible propellants and we have over 170 of these propulsion units on more than 40 operational satellites already. A further 200 units are in production.
• In-space servicing Coupled with our propulsion expertise, we are ensuring that our customers' satellites are refuellable. In the coming years, Dawn will offer a refueling service to enable life extension of customer satellites. This new market is aligned with our sustainability goal to ensue a clean and safe space for everyone!
• Spaceplane We are developing the fastest and highest-flying aircraft ever to take off from a runway, combining the extreme performance of rocket propulsion with the reusability of conventional airplanes to enable high-frequency, low-cost access to sub-orbital space.

Our international teams are distributed across four locations: the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, and the USA.