Head of Product Engineering - Flight Hardware & Propulsion Systems | Own the Flight Hardware Behind a New Way to Build Aerospace Structures
Long Beach, CA | On-site
Opportunity Summary
A recently funded, venture-backed manufacturer is using high-rate metal additive production to deliver large aerospace structures and pressure-containing hardware in a fraction of the time conventional forging and machining supply chains require. The company is hiring its Head of Product Engineering to own how its flight hardware is designed, analyzed, qualified and delivered to aerospace, space, defense and energy customers.
This is a hands-on leadership role for an engineer who has personally taken flight-critical hardware through qualification and into flight. You will act as the senior responsible engineer on customer programs such as tanks, pressure vessels and propulsion-adjacent structures, set product engineering direction alongside company leadership, and build the team as the company scales. For the first six to nine months, expect to spend most of your time as an individual contributor doing the engineering yourself. Factory and production equipment engineering sit with a separate team, so this role stays focused on the product.
About Us
We are a small, seed-stage engineering and manufacturing company in the Los Angeles area building next-generation production technology for high-performance metal hardware. We recently closed a funding round and already support a strong backlog of customer purchase orders, so the work is real hardware for paying customers. The team brings experience from launch vehicles, propulsion, industrial automation and advanced manufacturing. We value technical depth, fast iteration and shipping hardware.
Job Duties
- Lead product engineering for flight-critical and safety-critical hardware, from concept and design through test, qualification and delivery
- Serve as senior responsible engineer on customer programs involving tanks, pressure vessels, fluid hardware and large structural assemblies
- Own design and analysis across structures, fluids and thermal, including stress, fracture and fatigue considerations for additively produced metal parts
- Turn customer requirements into hardware that is manufacturable, testable and certifiable, working directly with customers on technical reviews
- Plan and run qualification campaigns including proof and burst pressure, vibration and environmental testing, and lead root cause investigations
- Partner with manufacturing, materials and quality to close the loop between design intent and the production process
- Set up engineering standards, design reviews, documentation and configuration control appropriate for a growing hardware company
- Hire, mentor and lead a product engineering team as the company grows, while staying directly involved in technical work
- Shape the long-term product and technology roadmap with company leadership
Qualifications
- 8+ years of engineering experience in aerospace, propulsion or other high-consequence hardware environments
- Proven track record taking flight-critical hardware through design and qualification and into flight
- Strong mechanical design background across structures, fluids, thermal or propulsion systems
- Experience as a responsible engineer or technical lead for complex hardware systems or subsystems
- Prior experience managing engineers or leading technical programs
- Hands-on experience with hardware build, integration, test and troubleshooting
- Solid grounding in stress analysis, materials behavior, thermodynamics and system integration
- Comfortable working as a hands-on individual contributor while the team is built out
- U.S. person as defined by ITAR
Preferred Experience
- Spacecraft or launch vehicle hardware background (aircraft hardware experience also considered)
- Design and qualification of pressure vessels, propellant tanks or fluid system hardware
- Startup or fast-paced aerospace experience and comfort operating with ambiguity
- Familiarity with pressure vessel and qualification standards such as AIAA S-080, NASA-STD-5019 or SMC-S-016
- Experience designing for or qualifying additively manufactured, welded or other non-traditional metal hardware
- Customer-facing technical leadership on government or prime contractor programs
- Building engineering teams and processes at an early-stage hardware company
Why Join Us
- Lead product engineering at a recently funded company where you will define the team, the processes and the technical culture
- Own hardware programs end to end and see your designs built, tested, qualified and delivered to customers
- Work on a manufacturing approach that can shorten aerospace hardware lead times dramatically
- Real customer demand from day one, with hardware programs already under contract
- Small, experienced team with backgrounds in launch, propulsion and advanced manufacturing
- Meaningful early-stage equity and a leadership role that grows with the company
Compensation Details
$160,000 - $210,000 + equity