Lead AIT Technician: Hands-On Spacecraft Leader

Loft Orbital; Golden (CO); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% company-paid medical, dental, and

Vision insurance for employees and his

Flexible Spending (FSA) and Health SAV

100% employer paid Life, AD&D, Short‑/

Flexible Time Off policy (vacation/s

401(k) plan and equity options

Daily catered lunches and snacks

International exposure to our team in 

Fully paid parental leave; 14 weeks

Carrot Fertility benefits

Relocation assistance when applicable

Off-sites and social events

Job summary

Loft is hiring a Lead AIT Technician to lead hands-on spacecraft assembly, integration, and test activities in our Golden, CO site. You will mentor technicians, enforce workmanship standards, and partner with engineers to improve manufacturability and quality.

Expect to stay hands-on with hardware while developing your team, ensuring top-notch workmanship and safe, efficient production processes in a fast-growing space company.

Qualifications

• 5+ years hands-on experience assembling and integrating spacecraft, aerospace hardware, or similarly complex high-reliability hardware.
• Demonstrated experience leading, mentoring, and/or managing technicians in an assembly or production environment.
• Strong hands-on mechanical and electrical assembly skills with knowledge of high-reliability workmanship.
• Ability to interpret and work from engineering drawings, schematics, 3D models, technical specifications, and detailed work instructions.
• Experience using precision hand tools, torque tools, measurement equipment, and other equipment for spacecraft/aerospace hardware assembly.
• Experience working within controlled manufacturing and engineering processes, including configuration-controlled documentation, PDM/PLM systems, ECOs, and non-conformance processes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with ability to provide guidance, feedback, coaching.
• Meticulous attention to detail and ownership over quality of work.
• Ability and willingness to remain hands-on with spacecraft hardware while developing the technician team.

Responsibilities

• Perform hands-on assembly, integration, inspection, and rework of spacecraft flight hardware as a senior member of the AIT technician team.
• Manage, mentor, and develop AIT Technicians, providing regular feedback, coaching, and support for their professional growth.
• Serve as a technical reference for the technician team, helping reinforce workmanship standards, best practices, and consistent execution.
• Assemble and integrate mechanical and electrical spacecraft hardware in accordance with engineering drawings, work instructions, specifications, and controlled processes.
• Perform precision mechanical assembly activities using appropriate hand tools, torque tools, measuring equipment, and other production equipment.
• Perform electrical assembly activities such as cable and harness installation, connector mating, routing, bonding, and other spacecraft integration activities.
• Inspect completed work and support peer inspections to ensure hardware meets engineering, workmanship, and quality requirements.
• Support the development, improvement, and maintenance of build procedures, work instructions, and production documentation based on hands-on experience from the production floor.
• Identify and elevate technical or quality issues encountered during assembly and integration, working closely with Engineering and Quality to support resolution.
• Contribute to root cause investigations, NCRs, FRACAS, and corrective actions when issues arise during spacecraft build and integration.
• Partner with AIT Engineers, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and Design Engineering to provide hands-on feedback that improves manufacturability, integration processes, and overall product quality.
• Champion a safe, organized, and disciplined production environment and help foster a culture of quality, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Skills

Team leadership

Hands-on AIT

Mechanical assembly

Electrical assembly

Engineering drawings

Precision tools

Quality workmanship

Mentoring

Root cause analysis

Tools

Torque tools

Measuring equipment

PDM/PLM systems

Job description

Wanna join the adventure?

As our Lead AIT Technician, you’ll be a working technical leader and people manager within our Assembly, Integration, and Test (AIT) team. You’ll remain hands-on with spacecraft flight hardware while also supporting, mentoring, and developing the technicians around you.

You’ll work closely with AIT Engineers and cross-functional teams to ensure spacecraft are assembled and integrated to the highest workmanship and quality standards. This role is ideal for an experienced AIT Technician who enjoys being close to the hardware, takes pride in technical excellence, and wants to help build a strong, capable technician team as Loft continues to scale.

About this Role:

Perform hands-on assembly, integration, inspection, and rework of spacecraft flight hardware as a senior member of the AIT technician team.

Manage, mentor, and develop AIT Technicians, providing regular feedback, coaching, and support for their professional growth.

Serve as a technical reference for the technician team, helping reinforce workmanship standards, best practices, and consistent execution.

Assemble and integrate mechanical and electrical spacecraft hardware in accordance with engineering drawings, work instructions, specifications, and controlled processes.

Perform precision mechanical assembly activities using appropriate hand tools, torque tools, measuring equipment, and other production equipment.

Perform electrical assembly activities such as cable and harness installation, connector mating, routing, bonding, and other spacecraft integration activities.

Inspect completed work and support peer inspections to ensure hardware meets engineering, workmanship, and quality requirements.

Support the development, improvement, and maintenance of build procedures, work instructions, and production documentation based on hands-on experience from the production floor.

Identify and escalate technical or quality issues encountered during assembly and integration, working closely with Engineering and Quality to support resolution.

Contribute to root cause investigations, NCRs, FRACAS, and corrective actions when issues arise during spacecraft build and integration.

Partner with AIT Engineers, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and Design Engineering to provide hands-on feedback that improves manufacturability, integration processes, and overall product quality.

Champion a safe, organized, and disciplined production environment and help foster a culture of quality, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Must Haves:

5+ years of hands-on experience assembling and integrating spacecraft, aerospace hardware, or similarly complex high-reliability hardware.

Demonstrated experience leading, mentoring, and/or managing technicians in an assembly or production environment.

Strong hands-on mechanical and electrical assembly skills, with a solid understanding of high-reliability workmanship practices.

Ability to interpret and work from engineering drawings, schematics, 3D models, technical specifications, and detailed work instructions.

Experience using precision hand tools, torque tools, measurement equipment, and other equipment commonly used for spacecraft or aerospace hardware assembly.

Experience working within controlled manufacturing and engineering processes, including configuration-controlled documentation, PDM/PLM systems, ECOs, and/or non-conformance processes.

Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to provide clear technical guidance, feedback, and coaching.

Meticulous attention to detail and a strong sense of ownership over the quality of work performed.

Ability and willingness to remain hands-on with spacecraft hardware while taking responsibility for the development and performance of the technician team.

Nice to Haves:

Previous experience as a Lead Technician, Senior Technician, or Technician Manager in the aerospace or space industry.

Experience with spacecraft Assembly, Integration, and Test (AIT) from initial hardware integration through vehicle-level activities.

Familiarity with aerospace workmanship standards such as IPC/WHMA-A-620, J-STD-001, NASA-STD-8739, or equivalent standards.

Experience with RF hardware or RF-related spacecraft integration.

Software or programming experience, particularly Python.

Experience contributing to FRACAS, NCR, root cause analysis, or corrective action processes.

Certified forklift and/or crane operator.

Some of Our Awesome Benefits:

100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents

Flexible Spending (FSA) and Health Savings (HSA) Accounts offered with an employer contribution to the HSA

100% employer paid Life, AD&D, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability insurance

Flexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick leave, and 12 paid holidays

401(k) plan and equity options

Daily catered lunches and snacks

International exposure to our team in France

Fully paid parental leave; 14 weeks for primary caregiver and 10 weeks for secondary caregiver

Carrot Fertility provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support

Off-sites and many social events and celebrations

Relocation assistance when applicable

*Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other underrepresented people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Loft, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t check all the boxes.

Who We Are

Loft: Space Made Simple.

Founded in 2017, Loft provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable, and simple way to deploy missions in orbit.

We integrate, launch, and operate spacecraft, offering end-to-end missions as a service across Earth observation, IoT connectivity, on-orbit AI, national security missions, and more. Leveraging our existing space infrastructure and an extensive inventory of satellite buses, Loft is reducing years-long integration and launch timelines to months. With more than 30 missions flown, Loft’s flight heritage and proven technologies enable customers to focus on their mission objectives.

With a growing fleet on track to reach 30 satellites by 2027, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France to meet accelerating demand for space infrastructure.

As an international company your resume will be reviewed by people across our offices so please attach a copy in English.

110000 - 150000 USD a year

State law requires us to tell you the base compensation range for this role, which is $110,000- $150,000 per year. This is determined by your education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities. The salary range for this role is intentionally wide as we evaluate individuals based on their unique experience and abilities to fit our needs. Most importantly, we are excited to meet you, and see if you are a great fit for our team. What we can’t quantify for you are the exciting challenges, supportive team, and amazing culture we enjoy.