Develops, matures, and sustains manufacturing processes for spacecraft mechanical subassemblies from prototype through flight production. Responsibilities include creating work instructions, manufacturing plans, tooling, and MBOMs; supporting assembly, integration, testing, and nonconformance investigations; conducting root-cause analysis; reviewing drawings and tolerances; coordinating cross-functional production activities; and driving improvements in safety, quality, cost, throughput, and schedule while maintaining configuration control and hardware traceability.
As a Manufacturing Engineer (Mechanical Subassemblies) at Impulse, you will be responsible for developing, maturing, and sustaining manufacturing processes for mechanical subassemblies from prototype through flight production. This role bridges design engineering and the factory floor, ensuring spacecraft structures and mechanisms are built safely, repeatably, on schedule, and to flight-quality standards. You will work closely with design, quality, supply chain, test, and production teams to enable rapid hardware development while continuously improving manufacturing efficiency and product quality.
Responsibilities
- Own manufacturing processes for spacecraft subassemblies from prototype through flight production
- Develop, release, and maintain manufacturing work instructions, travelers, manufacturing plans, and tooling to enable safe, repeatable production
- Develop and maintain manufacturing Bills of Materials (MBOMs) for structural and mechanical subassemblies
- Partner with design engineering to improve manufacturability (DFM), assembly (DFA), reliability, and production readiness
- Support hands-on assembly, integration, and test of activities on the production floor
- Investigate manufacturing and test issues, lead root-cause analysis, and implement corrective and preventative actions
- Develop and execute manufacturing plans for qualification, acceptance, functional, deployment, and environmental testing
- Support non-conformance investigations, disposition activities, and implementation of engineering changes
- Participate in design reviews and provide manufacturing feedback on drawings, tolerances, tooling, assembly sequence, and inspection requirements
- Provide manufacturing drawing reviews, ensuring clarity, completeness, and producibility.
- Coordinate manufacturing activities across engineering, quality, supply chain, and production to meet aggressive program schedules
- Monitor manufacturing metrics and drive continuous improvements in safety, quality, cost, throughput, and schedule
- Ensure compliance with quality management systems, configuration control, and flight hardware traceability requirements
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field
- 2+ years of hands-on experience in manufacturing engineering, production engineering, precision electromechanical assemblies, process engineering, or mechanical integration in production environment
- Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, GD&T, specifications, and manufacturing documentation
- Demonstrated experience in hardware assembly, troubleshooting, and mechanical systems.
- Demonstrated experience working with cross-functional engineering and production teams
Preferred Skills and Experience
- 3+ years of manufacturing engineering experience supporting spacecraft, satellites, launch vehicles, aerospace mechanisms, or other high-reliability hardware
- Experience with cleanroom manufacturing or controlled assembly environments
- Familiarity with aerospace quality systems and hardware traceability requirements
- Experience with qualification, acceptance, environmental, and functional testing of mechanical hardware
- Experience with Engineering Change Orders (ECOs), configuration management, and product lifecycle management (PLM) systems
- Experience designing manufacturing tooling, fixtures, or assembly aids
- Experience using CAD software (NX, Creo, Catia, SolidWorks, or similar) to support manufacturing and tooling development
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.
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.
About
Impulse Space, the in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, is opening access beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with its fleet of in-space transportation vehicles. The high-energy Helios vehicle unlocks orbits beyond LEO with its powerful Deneb engine, dropping off payloads in MEO, GEO, heliocentric, lunar, and other planetary orbits. The flight-proven Mira vehicle uses a nontoxic, high-impulse chemical propulsion system to offer orbital transport, constellation deployment, and precision reentry services to customers throughout LEO. Led by a team that delivered the most reliable rockets in history, Impulse provides economical and efficient in-space transportation by reliably and rapidly getting customers where they want to go.
Impulse Space El Segundo, California, USA Office
El Segundo, CA, United States, 90245
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