Scale spacecraft production by developing industrial scaling plans, optimizing factory layouts and workflows, eliminating bottlenecks, and expanding assembly, integration, and test capabilities. Lead facility buildouts, equipment planning, infrastructure upgrades, capital investments, and operational readiness. Coordinate with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, finance, and leadership to increase throughput, transition products into repeatable production, and deliver production capabilities in a rapidly growing environment.
As the Industrial Engineer – Spacecraft Production Scaling at Impulse, you will be responsible to scale spacecraft production in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. You will work with all stakeholders (AI&T, Manufacturing, Engineer, BD, Finance, and property) to develop a comprehensive industrial scaling plan to rapidly increase production capacity and deliver spacecraft at scale. You will operate at the intersection of engineering and operations, turning ambitious production goals into executable plans and building the systems required to support rapid growth. We need a builder who thrives in ambiguity, moves quickly, and takes ownership from initial planning through execution. You must be metrics driven, with an ability to coordinate informed trades related to make/buy, automation, production infrastructure, operating systems and test systems. Success means increasing throughput, removing manufacturing and test constraints, deploying capital effectively, and ensuring facilities and equipment are ready before production demand outpaces capacity. We are looking for an owner, not just an advisor—someone who can move from a spreadsheet to the factory floor, make sound decisions with incomplete information, and turn plans into operational results.
Responsibilities
- Develop and execute strategies to increase spacecraft production rates, optimize factory layouts and workflows, eliminate bottlenecks, and improve throughput without compromising quality or schedule
- Scale manufacturing processes, spacecraft assembly, integration, and test capabilities to meet aggressive production and delivery targets
- Lead factory planning, facility buildouts, equipment layouts, infrastructure upgrades, and operational readiness to support rapid expansion
- Own capacity-driven capital planning, equipment procurement, investment prioritization, and deployment to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with production demand
- Work directly with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, finance, and leadership to solve production scaling problems, remove constraints, and deliver capability quickly
Minimum Qualifications
- 7+ years of experience in industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, factory operations, and/or production scaling for complex hardware
- Demonstrated success scaling manufacturing operations and increasing production capacity
- Experience transitioning products from prototype builds to repeatable production
- Experience establishing or expanding factory operations, including facility layouts, equipment selection and deployment, tooling, and production readiness
- Experience owning or significantly contributing to capital planning, manufacturing equipment investments, and infrastructure development
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to make data-driven decisions and execute in ambiguous, rapidly changing environments
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives from concept through implementation with minimal oversight
- Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field
Preferred Skills and Experience
- 9+ years of experience in aerospace, spacecraft, defense, robotics, or other complex hardware manufacturing environments.
- Experience scaling spacecraft assembly, integration, test operations, or other high-reliability production processes.
- Experience helping stand up a new factory or scaling a manufacturing operation through significant production growth.
- Experience with production scaling software like Simeo, FlexSim, Plant Sim, Copperleaf or others
- Familiarity with lean manufacturing, production capacity modeling, equipment lifecycle planning, and asset management.
- Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field.
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.
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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