Senior Director of Engineering — Spacecraft Systems

General Galactic; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

401k

PTO

Medical/vision/dental

Job summary

General Galactic, based in Los Angeles, California, seeks a Director of Engineering. This senior technical leadership role is for someone who can stay hands-on while directing multi-disciplinary teams across mechanical, software, avionics, fluids, and systems domains to drive the product and mission fleet.

You will own engineering execution from architecture through build, test, qualification, and mission operations; recruit and mentor engineers; shape processes, standards, and culture in a

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or a related technical field.
• 6+ years of experience developing complex aerospace, defense, or other high‑performance hardware/software systems.
• Exceptional technical range across multiple engineering disciplines, including hands‑on individual hardware experience.
• Demonstrated ability to personally solve hard technical problems and make sound engineering decisions under uncertainty.
• Ability to read and challenge mechanical designs, electrical schematics, software architecture, test data, system requirements, and integration plans.
• Experience hiring or mentoring exceptional engineers.
• Strong first‑principles engineering judgment and the ability to make high‑quality decisions with incomplete information.

Responsibilities

• Own engineering execution and logistics management across vehicles, missions, and product lines, from early architecture through design, build, test, qualification, and mission operations
• Serve as a senior technical decision‑maker across mechanical, electrical, software, propulsion, fluids, thermal, test, and systems engineering domains
• Recruit, mentor, and lead exceptional engineers across software, avionics, mechanical, propulsion, test, and systems disciplines
• Personally contribute to critical technical work
• Work with the business and customer‑facing team to drive vehicle and system architecture decisions
• Architect and maintain engineering processes and practices for General Galactic
• Maintain a high‑performing startup pace and quality of execution. Lead the engineering team through rapid development cycles.
• Set and oversee engineering standards
• Maintain a strong engineering culture around ownership, speed, high standards, and first‑principles reasoning

Skills

Hands-on hardware experience

Systems engineering

Problem solving under uncertainty

First-principles reasoning

Design review / critique

Hiring / mentoring

Technical leadership

Education

BS/MS/PhD in aerospace/mechanical/electrical/CS or related field

Job description

General Galactic, based in Los Angeles, California, seeks a Director of Engineering. This senior technical leadership role is for someone who can stay hands-on while directing multi-disciplinary teams across mechanical, software, avionics, fluids, and systems domains to drive the product and mission fleet.

You will own engineering execution from architecture through build, test, qualification, and mission operations; recruit and mentor engineers; shape processes, standards, and culture in a