Senior Director of Spacecraft Structure & Mission Hardware

Muon Space

$233K — $262K *
Aerospace & Defense
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 15+ years in the design/management of complex systems for harsh environments (e.g., spacecraft, drones)
  • 8+ years in people management for engineers and engineering managers
  • Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
  • Strong leadership, program management, and communication skills
  • Proven track record in managing complex engineering projects from concept to deployment
  • Ability to adapt in a fast-paced environment with shifting responsibilities
  • Solid technical foundation in mechanical and electrical design and analysis

Responsibilities

  • Lead team in architecting, designing, and qualifying diverse bus platforms for various mission needs
  • Collaborate across departments to ensure engineering solutions meet customer mission requirements
  • Engage with Mission Management to align on mission-specific demands
  • Implement bus platforms for missions, ensuring timely milestone completion
  • Own spacecraft-level structural and thermal analysis and testing strategies
  • Develop and maintain hardware-in-the-loop testbeds for integrated software and hardware assessments
  • Support new mission proposals with feasibility studies and cost models
  • Design mechanical and electrical ground support equipment for spacecraft production

Benefits

  • Hybrid work model, requiring on-site presence in San Jose three days a week
  • Access to professional development and mentoring for higher-level management roles
  • Engagement with a rapidly growing company in space technology
  • Involvement in varied projects with new challenges each week
  • Competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package
Full Job Description
About the role

Muon seeks an experienced leader to guide our Bus Structure and Missions team through our next stage of rapid growth. This team has a large scope including designing & owning our spacecraft bus structures, GSE, testbeds, and tailoring each to specific mission needs. The role reports to Muon's Senior Director of Hardware Engineering and has strong talent in mechanical, thermal, structural, and electrical engineering reporting to them.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned, cross-disciplined leader who is experienced at organizing and scaling rapidly growing teams and has strong program management skills. Experience with designing and manufacturing low volume, high mix products efficiently is a must.

This position is hybrid and requires working on-site in our San Jose, CA office three days per week.
Responsibilities
  • Lead a team to architect, design, analyze, and qualify a catalog of bus platforms to meet a wide range of mission requirements.
  • Collaborate with Product, Business Development, System Engineering, Software Engineering, Operations, and more to ensure buses meet the needs of our growing portfolio of customer missions.
  • Collaborate with Mission Management and our customers to understand mission specific and instrument specific needs.
  • Implement instances of our bus platforms for these missions. Ensure all mission milestones are met.
  • Own Spacecraft level structural and thermal analysis & bus level testing strategies.
  • Produce and maintain mission specific hardware-in-the-loop testbeds to enable integrated software and hardware testing on a flight-representative system.
  • Support new mission proposals, contribute to cost models, and ensure mission feasibility pre-contract.
  • Own design of mechanical and electrical ground support equipment (MGSE & EGSE) required for production of spacecraft platforms.
  • Mentor and support multiple levels of team managers and enable scalable growth within the team.
Qualifications
  • 15+ years of experience designing and/or managing the design of complex, high reliability systems that operate in harsh environments (spacecraft, autonomous vehicles, drones, etc).
  • 8+ years of people management experience managing engineers and engineering managers.
  • B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
  • Excellent leadership, program management, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.
  • Proven experience managing complex engineering projects from concept to deployment, including budget and schedule management.
  • Ability to rapidly change roles/responsibilities while working in a high-paced, rewarding work environment with new challenges each week.
  • Strong technical background understanding the fundamentals of mechanical and electrical design & analysis.
  • Excited to work in a fast-paced environment with new challenges each week
Salary

The salary range for this role is $233,000 - $262,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.

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