Founding Lead Test & Integration Engineer

Equity: 0.3% – 1% depending on experience

About Us

We're a stealth team building space hardware at the edge of what's currently possible — high-stakes, flight-grade systems where the engineering bar is unforgiving and the upside is enormous. While we can't share full details yet, our founding and early engineering team includes talent from SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, and Impulse Space, the group includes people who've pulled off feats almost no one else on Earth has.

Role Overview

We are seeking a Lead Test & Integration Engineer to own how our spacecraft is assembled, integrated, and proven ready for flight — from the first unit off the bench to the vehicle mated on the launch vehicle.

This is a senior technical leadership role. You will not only define and execute the integration and test strategy, but also help build the I&T team, set technical standards, mentor engineers and technicians, and establish the facilities, processes, and culture required to build and verify flight-grade spacecraft.

This is not a narrow test-execution role. You will own the full assembly, integration, and test (AIT) flow: unit acceptance, subsystem integration, flatsat and vehicle-level functional testing, environmental test campaigns, and launch site operations — plus the facilities, ground support equipment, and test automation that make it all repeatable. You will partner closely with avionics, flight software, propulsion, and mechanical on test requirements and design for testability, and make system-level trades across test coverage, schedule, cost, facility capability, and mission risk.

The ideal candidate has direct experience with spacecraft integration, environmental testing, ground support equipment, test automation, and technical team leadership. We recognize that very few people have all of this. What matters most is that you have exceptional fundamentals, have taken real hardware from integration through flight, have managed or mentored engineers or technicians in high-performance technical environments, and can operate independently in ambiguity while making sound engineering tradeoffs. You will have direct ownership over one of the company's core technical challenges.

Key Responsibilities

Own the integration and test strategy, from early verification planning through unit acceptance, vehicle integration, environmental test, launch site operations, and flight readiness.

Define the verification and test philosophy: test-like-you-fly, qualification versus protoflight versus acceptance levels, and test coverage mapped to requirements.

Lead vehicle assembly and integration: integration sequences, mechanical and electrical mates and demates, harness installation, and safe-to-mate and first power-on procedures.

Plan and execute environmental test campaigns: sine and random vibration, shock, acoustic, thermal cycling, thermal vacuum, EMI/EMC, mass properties, and deployment and separation testing.

Own vehicle-level functional and performance testing: comprehensive and abbreviated performance tests, end-to-end command and telemetry checks, polarity and phasing tests, and day-in-the-life mission simulations.

Build and maintain the flatsat and integrated test benches with avionics and flight software, and support hardware-in-the-loop and end-to-end testing with ground software and mission operations.

Own electrical and mechanical ground support equipment: EGSE racks, solar array and battery simulators, umbilicals, breakout boxes, integration stands, lifting and rotation fixtures, and shipping containers.

Build test automation and data infrastructure: scripted procedures, data acquisition, test databases, automated limit checking, and trending across units and builds.

Establish and run integration and test facilities: cleanrooms, ESD control, contamination control, hazardous operations areas, and calibrated test equipment.

Select and manage external test facilities and vendors for environmental, EMC, and specialized testing, and own test readiness reviews and campaign logistics.