Director of Vehicle Engineering

Director of Vehicle Engineering

Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week)

Outpost is pioneering Earth return logistics for space. We're building vehicles that can return payloads from orbit safely and precisely enabling faster space-based manufacturing, global delivery, and entirely new capabilities in the space economy. Our spacecraft is already backed by the U.S. government with multiple missions ahead. We're a mission-focused team, building with urgency, grit, and care for the work we do and the people we do it with.

The Role

The Director of Vehicle Engineering is the technical authority and operational leader for our two core product lines: the Carryall orbital return vehicle and the Airdrop precision delivery system. You will be accountable for the entire vehicle lifecycle from architecture and requirements through design, build, test, and flight recovery. Reporting directly to the VP of Engineering, you will lead the integrated vehicle team (Structures, Mechanisms, Heat Shields, Paragliders, Parachutes, Avionics, Software, and more). This is not just a management role; you are the systems leader for the vehicle, owning the hard technical decisions that balance performance, mass, and schedule while driving the transition from R&D into low-rate production. As Director of Vehicle Engineering, you are the responsible engineer for all vehicles developed at Outpost.

Responsibilities

• Vehicle Technical Authority: Own the vehicle architecture, interfaces, and performance budgets (mass, power, thermal, GNC).
• Lifecycle Ownership: Drive the program from CDR, Integration, Test Readiness (TRR), Flight Readiness (CoFR), and Operations. You own the integrity of the vehicle at every stage.
• Team Leadership: Lead and mentor a multi-disciplinary team of leads across Avionics, Structures, TPS, and Recovery Systems. Manage resource allocation to keep the vehicle critical path on track.
• Production Readiness: Oversee the build for upcoming initial missions and develop the processes, tooling, and acceptance criteria required to stand up early line capability for fleet-scale production prior to transition to Production Engineering department for continued production
• Airdrop Product Delivery: Oversee the design and validation of the Airdrop product, ensuring safe & reliable deployment from aircraft that meets customer agreements for landing accuracy and flight performance.
• Integration & Test: Own the Master Test Plan, including environmental campaigns, flight tests, and anomaly resolution (MRB/FRACAS).
• Program Management: Maintain the detailed vehicle development schedule. Identify risks early, manage key "make/buy" decisions, and ensure rigorous configuration management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Systems Engineering.
• 12+ years of experience in full-lifecycle spacecraft development (Design, Build, and Fly).
• Technical Leadership: Proven experience leading cross-functional engineering teams through critical design reviews and flight campaigns.
• Architectural Vision: Experience managing complex system budgets (mass, power, link, error) and making high-stakes technical trades.
• Production Fluency: Experience bridging the gap between R&D and manufacturing, setting up travelers, defining acceptance criteria, and designing for manufacturability (DFM).
• Flight Test Heritage: Direct experience with flight test operations, range safety, and anomaly investigation.

Preferred Experience

• Active U.S. Government Security Clearance (Not required, but beneficial)
• Experience with re-entry vehicles, precision aerial delivery, or autonomous aircraft.
• Experience transitioning a product from prototype to low-rate initial production.

Compensation & Benefits

• $200,000 – $250,000; Salary may vary with experience
• Incentive Stock Options
• Annual Performance-Based Bonus
• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Short- and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Life Insurance
• PTO
• 401k with Company match
• Subsidized daily catered lunch, snacks and coffee