Manager, Spacecraft Vehicle Engineering

Impulse Space; Redondo Beach (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 205,000; Full time

Job summary

Impulse Space, based in Redondo Beach, seeks a Manager for Vehicle Engineering to lead the Mira spacecraft program. You will own delivery, sustainment, and ongoing improvements while managing a small team of engineers across structures, mechanisms, and payload accommodations.

You will coordinate across propulsion, avionics, manufacturing, and integration to ensure on-time, repeatable Mira missions and drive the technical roadmap for future upgrades and scalability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science or related field.
• Past results developing, testing, and flying spacecraft or launch vehicles.
• Expert knowledge in spacecraft primary/secondary structures, mechanisms, or pressure systems.
• Strong communication skills across technical and interpersonal contexts.
• Experience managing and growing a small team.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of engineers on the Mira spacecraft program.
• Coordinate hardware integration across propulsion, avionics, manufacturing and integration.
• Act as technical expert on primary/secondary structures, deployable mechanisms, payloads.
• Scale Mira missions from 6 to 30+ per year with efficient execution.
• Interface with mission management, design teams, and customers.
• Mentor team to be hardware-focused, collaborative, and technically rigorous.
• Shape long-term Mira product roadmap and block upgrades.

Skills

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Spacecraft development

System engineering

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or science

Master’s degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering

Job description

Department

Vehicle Engineering

Location

Redondo Beach

Compensation

$175,000 - $205,000 / year

Description

As the Manager for Vehicle Engineering for Mira at Impulse, you will be responsible for the overall success, delivery, sustainment, and improvement of the Mira vehicle product line. You will serve as the technical expert of the vehicle and manage a team of 4 individuals to start with potential to grow.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of all-star responsible engineers working on the Mira spacecraft including both mechanical and vehicle level system engineering associated work
• Be the glue and train your team on how to connect hardware groups together across propulsion, avionics, manufacturing, and integration to deliver successful Mira vehicles on time at a recurring basis
• Act as the technical expert on Mira spacecraft primary structures, secondary structures, deployable mechanisms, and payload accommodations
• Manage an ever-growing number of Mira missions scaling from 6 per year to 30+ per year
• Interface regularly with mission management, mission design, and customers, supporting current missions, onboarding new ones, or performing studies on what Mira could do
• Train, guide, and mentor your team to be efficient, hardware-focused, collaborative, and technically rigorous
• Shape the long-term product roadmap for Mira both mission by mission and well into the future with major or minor block upgrades that include systemic performance, process, and automation improvements
• Direct technical ownership and individual contributor work across the vehicle

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science or related field
• Past results and execution developing, testing, and flying spacecraft, launch vehicles, or other vehicles with similar rigorous flightworthy requirements
• Expert level technical knowledge in any of the following disciplines: primary structures, secondary structures, mechanisms, pressure systems, or other areas related to spacecraft
• Strong communication skills both technically and interpersonally to support work across a wide array of groups and departments
• Professional experience managing and growing a small team

Preferred Skills And Experience

• Master’s degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering
• 4+ years of demonstrated experience working in lead roles on spacecraft development
• Ownership of the technical development of a spacecraft through its full design cycle: conceptualization, system level trades, design, analysis, test, build, integration, and flight operations
• Demonstrated results executing multi-disciplinary problems efficiently in a startup or agile development environment that requires hands-on hardware

Additional Information

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

Impulse Space’s spacecraft manufacturing business is subject to U.S. export regulations including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This position requires applicants to be either U.S. Persons (i.e., U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent U.S. resident (green card holder), an individual granted asylum in the U.S., or an individual admitted in U.S. refugee status) or persons eligible to obtain an export license from the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, or other applicable U.S. government agencies. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Impulse Space is governed on the basis of 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.