Manager, Spacecraft Mission Testbed Development

Firefly Aerospace; Cedar Park (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental and vision plans

Educational reimbursement

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, a space and defense technology company headquartered near Austin, TX, seeks a Manager of Spacecraft Mission Testbed Development to lead HITL testbed programs across programs, overseeing engineers and technicians from design through operation. You will ensure safe, reliable, and on-schedule infrastructure for spacecraft integration, verification, and mission readiness.

You will partner with the Testbed Architect and mission leadership, providing hands-on technical leadership,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline such as aerospace, electrical, mechanical or systems.
• 8+ years in spacecraft/defense hardware development programs.
• 3+ years in technical leadership or management of multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience designing, integrating, or operating HITL hardware test systems.
• Strong knowledge of spacecraft integration, verification, and validation.
• Experience leading cross-functional engineering efforts.
• Experience managing scope, schedule, cost, and resources.
• Experience developing engineering processes and procedures.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex hardware integration issues.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to engage with leadership.
• Occasional travel to customer/partner facilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering and technician teams for spacecraft testbed development, deployment, maintenance, and operations.
• Provide technical leadership for hardware-in-the-loop environments across programs.
• Balance resources across concurrent spacecraft programs to meet schedule and cost objectives.
• Collaborate with Testbed Architect to implement common infrastructure and standardized practices.
• Coordinate with Responsible Engineers to integrate hardware into shared testbed infrastructure.
• Manage staffing, mentoring, performance, and technical development.
• Report status, risks, and progress to spacecraft program leadership.
• Support improvements to increase hardware reuse and reduce deployment time.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Hardware testing

HITL systems

Problem solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related

Master's degree in Engineering or Systems Engineering

Job description

About Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

Summary

The Manager of Spacecraft Mission Testbed Development is responsible for leading the execution, technical development, and operation of Firefly's Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) testbed organization across all spacecraft programs. This role manages the engineering and technician teams responsible for designing, building, deploying, operating, and maintaining spacecraft mission testbeds while ensuring infrastructure is delivered safely, reliably, and on schedule.

Working closely with the Testbed Architect, Responsible Engineers, and mission leadership, the manager provides hands‑on technical leadership during testbed development, balances resources across multiple concurrent programs, and ensures mission teams have high‑quality test environments that support spacecraft integration, verification, and mission readiness.

The manager is responsible for execution across FlatSat, RackSat, and Payload Integration Test (PIT) environments while developing a scalable organization capable of supporting Firefly's growing multi-bus, multi-mission portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering and technician teams responsible for spacecraft mission testbed development, deployment, maintenance, and operations.
• Provide technical leadership throughout the design and implementation of hardware in the loop environments while supporting mission‑specific integration activities.
• Balance engineering resources across multiple concurrent spacecraft programs to meet schedule, cost, and technical objectives.
• Partner with the Testbed Architect to implement common infrastructure, modular designs, and standardized development practices across all spacecraft programs.
• Collaborate with Responsible Engineers to integrate spacecraft hardware into shared testbed infrastructure while supporting mission‑specific verification objectives.
• Manage staffing, hiring, mentoring, performance management, and technical development of engineers and technicians.
• Report organizational status, resource needs, technical risks, and execution progress to spacecraft program leadership.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives that increase hardware reuse, reduce deployment time, improve reliability, and enable simultaneous support of multiple spacecraft programs.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 8+ years of engineering experience supporting spacecraft, aerospace, defense, or other complex hardware development programs.
• 3+ years of technical leadership or engineering management experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Demonstrated experience designing, integrating, or operating complex hardware test systems, spacecraft integration environments, or Hardware‑in‑the‑Loop (HITL) systems.
• Strong understanding of spacecraft integration, verification, and validation processes.
• Experience leading cross‑functional engineering efforts involving multiple technical disciplines.
• Proven ability to manage technical projects involving scope, schedule, cost, and resource planning.
• Experience developing engineering processes, standard work, and operational procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex system‑level hardware integration issues.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with engineers, program managers, and executive leadership.
• Ability to travel occasionally to customer and partner facilities supporting offsite testbeds.

Desired

• Master's degree in Engineering or Systems Engineering.
• Experience with spacecraft avionics, flight software, GNC, propulsion, payload, or electrical integration.
• Experience developing modular system architectures or reusable engineering infrastructure.
• Experience implementing engineering configuration management processes for hardware and software systems.
• Experience leading laboratory operations, capital equipment planning, or engineering facility development.
• Experience with electrical integration including harnessing, instrumentation, data acquisition systems, power distribution, and interface hardware.
• Familiarity with EGSE development, mission simulation environments, and spacecraft command and telemetry systems.
• Experience managing engineering support for multiple concurrent spacecraft or aerospace development programs.
• Experience establishing engineering organizations, growing teams, or standing up new technical capabilities.
• Working knowledge of systems engineering practices including interface management, requirements verification, and design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR).
• Experience working with external customers, government agencies, or industry partners on integrated spacecraft programs.

Benefits

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

EEO Statement

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.