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Salary: USD 90,000 - 150,000 / annual
Antares is building mass-producible, inherently safe, deployable microreactors for terrestrial, underwater, and space applications. The company's mission is to make clean energy abundant from Earth to the Asteroid Belt, with a team drawn from SpaceX, the White House, Pentagon, Department of Energy, MIT, and national laboratories. Antares has raised over $600M in venture capital and holds hundreds of millions in contracts with military services, NASA, and the Department of Energy.
As a Build Engineer I/II on the Space team, you will transform engineering designs into flight-ready hardware for nuclear power systems destined for space missions. You will own the complete lifecycle of development, prototype, and pathfinder builds—from initial planning through assembly, testing, and as-built documentation. Working closely with design engineers and technicians, you will solve complex integration challenges and establish repeatable build processes that support qualification and production transition.
Key responsibilities include:
- Planning assembly sequences, build flow, and schedules using engineering drawings and CAD models; updating models as needed
- Writing build procedures, work orders, and maintaining accurate as-built records and hardware configuration
- Assembling mechanical and fluid hardware with appropriate tools, torque specifications, and hardware selections; supporting design reviews to confirm safety factors and margins
- Installing instrumentation and wiring, performing mid-build checkouts, and supporting verification, validation, and qualification testing
- Designing, procuring, and building fixtures, handling equipment, and development tooling
- Sourcing commercial off-the-shelf hardware and quick-turn machined parts; inspecting incoming parts and resolving discrepancies
- Troubleshooting assembly and integration issues, documenting redlines, and coordinating changes with design owners
- Capturing lessons learned and incorporating process improvements into build documentation
- Maintaining safe, organized build areas when working with pressurized systems, high temperatures, and heavy hardware
The role is based at Antares' new 322,000 square-foot facility in Torrance, CA, featuring large collaborative spaces for R&D and production with convenient freeway access. Full-time, on-site presence is required, with flexibility to work long hours and weekends to support critical milestones.
REQUIREMENTS:
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or related engineering discipline
- 1+ years of hands-on experience building, assembling, or integrating mechanical hardware (internships and hardware-focused student projects qualify)
- Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and 3D CAD models
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience owning a hardware build from planning through completion (collegiate rocketry, satellite, or similar project teams)
- Proficiency with geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) and tolerance stack-ups
- 3D CAD experience designing fixtures and tooling; Siemens NX preferred
- Experience writing build procedures, travelers, or work instructions for flight or flight-like hardware
- Hands-on experience with fluid systems (tube fittings, valves, regulators, seals, precision cleaning, helium leak checking)
- Strong understanding of bolted joints (torque, preload, thread locking)
- Experience operating manual mills and lathes; familiarity with welding, brazing, sheet metal fabrication, and additive manufacturing
- Experience installing thermocouples, pressure transducers, strain gauges, and building basic wiring harnesses
- Experience with high-temperature, high-pressure, and vacuum hardware
- Familiarity with product lifecycle management (PLM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems
Additional Requirements:
- Ability to work long hours and weekends as necessary to support critical milestones
- Ability and willingness to work on-site full time
- Must be a U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, Refugee, or Asylee, or eligible to obtain required ITAR authorizations from the U.S. Department of State
