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Salary: USD 207,000 - 230,000 / annual
Muon Space, a LEO satellite constellation provider founded in 2021, is seeking a Senior Manager of Production Test Engineering to lead and scale the test engineering organization as spacecraft production increases.
You will manage a team of Spacecraft Test Engineers and Environmental Test Engineers, owning the complete spacecraft test strategy, customer payload integration testing, environmental test engineering, and the infrastructure and processes required for high-rate production. This is a hands-on technical leadership role that combines deep aerospace test expertise with organizational scaling.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading, mentoring, and developing test engineering teams
- Owning spacecraft production test strategy, including requirements, procedures, scripts, configurations, limits, and acceptance criteria
- Defining test levels (spacecraft, module, component) and maintaining traceability between requirements and procedures
- Leading spacecraft integrated testing and transitioning new tests into repeatable production processes
- Owning environmental test engineering for vibration, thermal vacuum (TVAC), thermal, EMI/EMC, and qualification/acceptance testing
- Leading customer payload integration test planning and execution, translating customer requirements into production test requirements
- Coordinating with Flight Software to identify required test features, interfaces, and test hooks
- Defining requirements for spacecraft testbeds, EGSE, test racks, instrumentation, and production test infrastructure
- Establishing test capacity and infrastructure requirements based on production volume and throughput targets
- Developing and executing roadmaps for scaling test capabilities as production increases
- Standardizing and replicating mature test setups, procedures, and processes
- Identifying test bottlenecks and driving improvements in test time, throughput, repeatability, and ease of test
- Partnering with Production Test Technicians to transition mature tests into production execution
- Working cross-functionally with Systems Engineering, Manufacturing, Mission Engineering, Flight Software, Quality, and Production
- Establishing test engineering standards, processes, and best practices
- Developing organizational capacity and cross-training to eliminate single points of failure
The role is fully onsite in San Jose, CA, requiring five days per week in the office.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident (ITAR/EAR compliance required)
- 8+ years of experience in spacecraft, aerospace, defense, or complex hardware test engineering
- 3+ years of experience leading or managing test engineers
- Demonstrated experience developing and executing spacecraft or system-level test programs
- Experience with spacecraft AIT (Assembly, Integration, and Test) and integrated system testing
- Experience with environmental testing such as vibration, thermal vacuum, thermal cycling, or EMI/EMC
- Experience translating system and mission requirements into executable test procedures and acceptance criteria
- Experience developing testbeds, EGSE, test racks, or automated test systems
- Demonstrated ability to scale test processes, infrastructure, and teams to support increasing production volume
- Strong technical leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced aerospace production environment with changing priorities and compressed schedules
NICE-TO-HAVE SKILLS:
- Direct spacecraft or launch vehicle integration and test experience
- Customer payload integration and customer-facing test engineering experience
- Experience developing automated spacecraft test frameworks, scripts, or test software
- Experience with Python, LabVIEW, C/C++, or other test automation environments
- Familiarity with Flight Software test interfaces, simulators, or hardware-in-the-loop testing
- Experience designing and commissioning spacecraft testbeds, EGSE, or automated production test infrastructure
- Experience establishing test capacity models and infrastructure roadmaps
- Experience reducing test cycle time through automation, parallelization, or process improvement
- Familiarity with requirements traceability, configuration management, and AS9100 aerospace quality systems
- Experience building and scaling technical organizations in a New Space or high-rate aerospace manufacturing environment
