Chief Spacecraft Engineer: Systems & Mission Readiness

Firefly Aerospace, Inc.; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Parental leave

Educational reimbursement

Short term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is seeking a Chief Engineer to lead vehicle-level architecture, risk, and mission readiness across launch vehicles and spacecraft. You will guide trades, budgets, and cross-disciplinary integration, acting as the primary technical authority and mentoring the team.

Based at our Briggs/Briggs- area facility with some travel, you will drive engineering excellence. You will collaborate with Production, Quality Assurance, Business Development, and Operations to ensure

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or related discipline.
• 5+ years hands-on engineering experience in launch vehicle/spacecraft systems.
• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics and aerospace design fundamentals.
• Ability to travel ~10% of the time for tests and launches.
• Excellent verbal/written communication and teamwork skills.
• Advanced degree preferred (MS/PhD) with leadership exposure.

Responsibilities

• Define vehicle-level architecture and interoperability for missions from LEO to the Moon.
• Lead system trades, budgets, and risk analyses across sub-systems.
• Act as primary technical authority for vehicle design and lifecycle decisions.
• Provide on-console support during operations and anomaly resolution.
• Mentor the engineering team and drive training pipelines for the Chief Engineering group.
• Coordinate with Production, Integration, and QA for seamless operations.
• Represent Firefly with customers, vendors, and program partners throughout the lifecycle.
• Lead Mission Readiness and Data Reviews to ensure mission readiness.

Skills

Leadership

Systems engineering

Orbital mechanics

Risk management

Spacecraft operations

Troubleshooting

Mechanical engineering

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Master's or PhD in engineering

Tools

Confluence

Jira

Bitbucket

Teamcenter

Epsilon3

Odoo

Job description

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is seeking a Chief Engineer to lead vehicle-level architecture, risk, and mission readiness across launch vehicles and spacecraft. You will guide trades, budgets, and cross-disciplinary integration, acting as the primary technical authority and mentoring the team.

Based at our Briggs/Briggs- area facility with some travel, you will drive engineering excellence. You will collaborate with Production, Quality Assurance, Business Development, and Operations to ensure