Environmental Test Lab Manager

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE

As an end-to-end responsive space company, Firefly Aerospace is on a mission to enable our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space. This position is located at our Environmental Test Lab in Cedar Park, Texas.

SUMMARY

We are looking for an experienced Engineering Manager to lead our Environmental Test Lab engineering team. In this role, you will own the people, processes, and equipment that keep our aerospace environmental test production running at peak performance. You will lead a team of engineers and technicians, setting the technical direction and operational strategy for environmental testing (vibe, thermal, shock, and vacuum) of spacecraft, rocket, and engine hardware. You will be responsible for building and developing a high-performing team while also authoring technical procedures, performing testing, and implementing improvements that reduce cost, increase efficiency, and ensure reliability of flight hardware.

A successful candidate relishes the idea of solving problems using innovation, continually inviting new technologies and processes. This opportunity empowers candidates to make a meaningful impact on the aerospace industry by collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, developing leadership capabilities, expanding technical skill sets, and embracing complex challenges.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Directly manage a team of engineers and technicians supporting environmental testing
• Hire, develop, and retain top talent; conduct performance reviews and support career growth
• Set clear goals and priorities for the team; foster a culture of safety, ownership, and continuous improvement
• Manage test scheduling and maintenance; unblock the testing team during daily test operations
• Identify continuous improvement opportunities for performance aimed at maximizing throughput, reliability, and reducing cost
• Analyze and review data to ensure that hardware is operating as expected utilizing numerical data analysis tools to interpret test results; author test reports
• Author and execute test procedures; Perform shock, vibe, thermal, and testing on valves, avionics, COPVs, and other aerospace components
• Troubleshoot and find root cause of issues in testing; implement corrective actions to resolve
• Establish and maintain calibration procedures and management of instrumentation, tooling, and test equipment
• Partner with cross-functional teams in Avionics Engineering, Propulsion and Fluids Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Program Management, Quality, Software, etc

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical, Aerospace, Mechanical, Computer Engineering or related field
• 5+ years of hands-on hardware testing in aerospace or related field (aviation, military, electronics)
• 3+ years of engineering team management; 2+ years of project management
• Experience performing vibe, shock, and thermal testing on aerospace hardware
• Familiarity with common test equipment (data acquisition, test fixtures, vibe tables, oscilloscopes, power supplies, etc)

Desired

• 1+ years of scripting in a modern language for generating and troubleshooting test scripts
• Experience commissioning and troubleshooting test equipment
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with ability to effectively work across teams and senior leadership
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, multi-task, and remain comfortable with changing priorities
• Familiarity with JIRA, Confluence, LabView software

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on 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.