SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Loft Orbital (operating as Orbitworks) is establishing commercial satellite manufacturing in the UAE. This Director of Manufacturing role leads the design-to-manufacturing function, overseeing the translation of complex spacecraft designs into production-ready processes and verification systems.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead manufacturing and test teams, including Manufacturing Systems & Mechanical Ground Support Equipment (MGSE), Verification & Validation Test Engineering, and Test Platforms & Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE).
- Transform engineering requirements into production-ready processes: work instructions, bills of materials, routings, assembly workflows, tooling, fixtures, and process validation.
- Ensure test readiness by overseeing test methods, procedures, scripts, limits, configurations, coverage, and verification evidence.
- Own test infrastructure readiness, guiding development, validation, deployment, and maintenance of test benches, instrumentation, automation, networking, and spacecraft interfaces.
- Review designs for manufacturability and testability in collaboration with mechanical, electrical, software, and systems engineering teams to identify constraints early and reduce rework.
- Resolve manufacturing and test issues through root-cause investigations, troubleshooting, and corrective action coordination.
- Manage priorities and performance metrics: readiness, quality, schedule, cost, throughput, risks, and resource allocation.
- Standardize and scale operations by establishing reusable tooling, test platforms, common standards, and predictable handoffs to Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT).
- Coach and develop the team, clarifying ownership, strengthening technical leadership, and improving cross-functional collaboration.
The company operates a 50,000-square-foot facility in Abu Dhabi and aims to manufacture tens of satellites annually, making this a high-impact role in an emerging commercial space manufacturing operation.
Requirements:
- Strong manufacturing engineering and test engineering experience, with proven ability to translate complex designs into practical manufacturing and verification systems.
- MGSE and EGSE expertise, including development, implementation, validation, and ongoing support.
- Experience with hardware-in-the-loop/software-in-the-loop (HIL/SIL) or similarly complex integration and test environments.
- Practical Design for Manufacturing, Assembly and Test (DFM/DFA/DFT) knowledge, with examples of influencing design decisions.
- Proven technical team leadership and coaching experience, ideally across multiple engineering disciplines.
- Strong collaboration skills across engineering, production, quality, supply chain, and programs.
- Hands-on problem-solving and delivery under pressure, supported by examples of shipping complex hardware and resolving real production issues.
Desirable:
- Direct satellite or aerospace manufacturing experience.
- Electronics or defence/DoD manufacturing experience involving complex, high-reliability systems.
- Familiarity with ERP/MES systems for production workflows, reporting, and traceability.
- Experience with agile or concurrent engineering, rapid prototyping, and iterative engineering-to-manufacturing handoffs.
- Knowledge of AS9100 and ISO 9001 quality standards.
