Full Job Description
About the Role
We're looking for a Senior or Principal Multi-Disciplinary Technician to build, integrate, and test hardware anywhere in the factory as we build a rocket factory from the ground up.
Reporting to the Head of Manufacturing, you'll be accountable for delivering hardware across trade boundaries, including building, plumbing, wiring, machining, welding, rigging, testing, and troubleshooting flight hardware, test stands, and the factory itself. You'll work directly with design, manufacturing, and test engineers, resolve first-build and stalled-build problems, and turn what you learn into procedures, tooling, and training that enable repeatable production. This role is ideal for someone who can work across disciplines, lead unfamiliar builds, and identify why a build is difficult and how to improve it.
This is a full-time, on-site role in Kent, Washington, within Production Engineering.
Responsibilities
• Assemble and integrate structural, mechanical, propulsion, fluid, and avionics subassemblies from engineering drawings, models, and work instructions, from first-article builds through rate production.
• Perform engine installation and thrust-structure and aft-end integration, including alignment, precision measurement, flight-critical torque and fastener installation, and safety wire.
• Build, install, and leak-check flight and ground fluid systems (tube bending, flaring and swaging, fittings, valves, regulators and seals) in oxygen-clean, FOD-intolerant environments.
• Fabricate, route, terminate and test wire harnesses and electromechanical assemblies (continuity, hi-pot, insulation resistance), and install avionics on the vehicle and on test stands.
• Run pressurized, pneumatic, and cryogenic operations, including proof and leak tests, functional checkouts, propellant-system conditioning, and integrated stage tests.
• Set up and operate instrumentation and data acquisition (pressure, temperature, flow, strain), and interpret P&IDs, electrical schematics, and test data.
• Lead fault isolation across mechanical, fluid, and electrical boundaries; document nonconformances and work with engineering on root cause and disposition.
• Set up and run manual mills, lathes, drill presses, surface grinders and saws to make tooling, fixtures, brackets, adapters, shims and quick-turn rework parts from drawings or sketches.
• Operate CNC mills and lathes for short-run and prototype work: load programs, set work offsets and tool lengths, prove out first articles, and make basic program edits with a machinist or programmer.
• Select feeds, speeds, tooling, and workholding for aerospace materials, including 6061/7075 aluminum, 300-series stainless, Inconel 718, titanium, and plastics such as PTFE and PEEK.
• Hold tolerances to +/-0.001 in. where required and inspect parts to GD&T per ASME Y14.5 with micrometers, bore gauges, indicators, height gauges, and surface plates.
• Perform precision hole work and hardware prep (drilling and reaming to size, tapping, thread repair, Helicoil and Keensert installation, counterboring, spot-facing, deburring) and in-situ rework on assemblies under engineering disposition.
• Weld (GTAW on stainless, aluminum and nickel alloys; orbital tube welding a plus) for flight hardware, GSE and tooling.
• Build, commission, and maintain test stands, GSE, fluid panels and factory utilities (shop air, high-pressure gas, hydraulics, cryogenic transfer lines), and support installation and bring-up of new production equipment.
• Perform rigging, overhead crane, forklift, and aerial-lift operations for large structures and stage moves, including lift planning for critical lifts.
• Act as hands-on lead for first builds and new processes: red-line work instructions, write procedures, specify tooling, and move work from development into production.
• Mentor and cross-train technicians, and serve as a trainer and qualifier for internal skill certifications.
• Drive safety, quality and efficiency through hazard identification, 5S, FOD and tool control, and design-for-manufacture feedback to engineering.
• Keep accurate, traceable build records in MES/ERP and travelers, and flag shortages and kitting problems early.
Basic Qualifications
• 8+ years of hands-on technician experience in aerospace, launch vehicles, aviation, energy, motorsports, or a similar high-reliability industry
• High school diploma or GED, or related vocational/technical education.
• Expert-level skill in at least two of the following, with working competence across most of the rest: mechanical assembly, fluid systems, cryogenic and high-pressure operations, electrical/avionics, machining, welding, test and instrumentation, rigging.
• Ability to read and work from engineering drawings, GD&T, P&IDs, electrical schematics and work instructions.
• Proficient use of calibrated tools, including torque wrenches, micrometers, calipers, height and depth gauges, and multimeters.
• Ability to set up and run manual mills and lathes to drawing tolerances.
• Ability to obtain and keep forklift, overhead crane, and aerial-lift qualifications.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lb unassisted, stand for extended periods, work at heights and in confined spaces, and work around high-pressure and cryogenic systems.
Preferred Qualifications
• FAA Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) certificate.
• Workmanship certifications such as IPC/WHMA-A-620, J-STD-001 or NASA-STD-8739.4.
• AWS or ASME Section IX GTAW welding certifications, or comparable aerospace welding qualifications.
• Machining trade certificate; experience with Haas, Fanuc or Mazak controls and CAM such as Siemens NX, Fusion 360, or Mastercam.
• Rocket engine or turbomachinery assembly and test, or launch vehicle integration and launch-pad operations experience.
• Experience standing up a new factory, test site, or production line, including equipment installation and commissioning.
• Military technical background (aviation maintenance, nuclear, missile systems).
• Lean or continuous improvement experience; familiarity with MES/ERP systems and reading CAD models.
Compensation and Benefits
• The hourly pay for this position is Entry $42 - Mid $48 - Max $54 per hr. Actual base pay will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.
• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
• Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Paid time off
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year
• Paid parental leave
• Relocation assistance if applicable
• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks
ITAR Requirements
Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants 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. Learn more about ITAR here.
Disclaimer
This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.'s discretion.
