The Company
Astra’s mission is to Improve Life on Earth from Space® by creating a healthier and more connected planet. Today, Astra offers one of the lowest cost-per-launch dedicated orbital launch services of any operational launch provider in the world, and one of the industry’s first flight-proven electric propulsion systems for satellites, Astra Spacecraft Engine™. Astra delivered its first commercial launch to low Earth orbit in 2021, making it the fastest company in history to reach this milestone, just five years after it was founded in 2016. Astra (NASDAQ: ASTR) was the first space launch company to be publicly traded on Nasdaq.
The Opportunity
The Astra Sr. Manufacturing Engineer is responsible for the manufacture of low volume/high product mix of electrical systems hardware for space infrastructure products.
You will come with a strong desire to be hands-on when determining if an issue is design, assembly, or supplier quality related. You will drive improvement projects to ensure that safety, reliability, and process capability goals are achieved, maintained, and improved. You will be a vital part of the relationship between our development and production teams.
Collaborating closely with a cohort of electrical, mechanical, test and system engineers, you will develop electrical schematics, PCB board layouts, specifications and execute test activities in the facility.
This position reports to the Sr. Manager of Manufacturing Engineering.
How You'll Fulfill Your Mission
- Collaborate with design engineering to assure quality is designed in at concept and design reviews
- Visit customers to understand issues, then present new process improvements to each customer
- Implement new manufacturing capabilities and think creatively to resolve and challenge conflicting requirements.
- Proactively develop processes within manufacturing engineering to prevent issues making it to the production line
- Execute test campaigns in R&D and environmental laboratories on the satellite bus, and use the data gathered to iterate the design and/or verify the specification is met.
- Responsible for Issue Management, tracking failure modes, addressing root cause, and verifying closure of issues from assigned owners.
- Assist with design, analysis, and integration of sub-assemblies to resolve off-nominal non-conformance and develop sustainable repair procedures.
- Optimize existing requirements, approaches, and processes based on measurement or test data.
- Develop, demonstrate, and drive to completion innovative production processes to support high rate, quality production targets.
- Develop production testing processes and requirements for high pressure gas systems to support high rate production testing targets.
- Drive issue resolution from root cause analysis to countermeasure implementation on electromechanical components and use analytical tools and techniques.
- Adapt to evolving design and production challenges.
- Drive design and process changes that support program goals through demonstration of feasibility.
- Interface with production technicians, engineering teams, and leadership on a daily basis.
Why We Value You
- 5+ years of relevant experience, including experience leading electrical engineering designs from inception to production
- Expertise in design for manufacturability and design for assembly, successfully taking products through development, testing, and production
- Familiarity with satellite design and test obtained through educational training and/or on the-job experience in a related field
- Experience with capacity modeling, process mapping and fault analysis
- Demonstrated experience with CAD and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) experience
- Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, enthusiasm for the team's spirit of innovation and mission of improving manufacturing for spacecraft and launch vehicles
- Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal)
- Ability to succinctly present recommendations to stakeholders, the customer, and leadership
- Ability to make appropriate assumptions and perform trade studies using first principles and engineering fundamentals to create rationale for clear recommendations
- Experience prioritizing and executing tasks in a high-pressure environment with ongoing drive for continuous improvement in all aspects of work
- Willing to work extended hours and/or weekends as needed
- Will sometimes be working directly with the hardware on the floor and will have to be comfortable stooping, bending, and standing for long periods of time
- Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, physics, mathematics, computer science or a related field. An additional four years of experience may be substituted for a degree
Desired Multipliers
- Experience with low-medium volume manufacturing, or design for manufacture and product development life cycle, or quality tools including root cause and corrective action, PFMEAs, QMS, and process auditing and statistical analysis of quality metrics
- Experience in control and monitoring of complex automated systems and risk assessment/reduction of the system
- Working knowledge of Python or other coding language
ITAR Requirements: This position requires compliance with U.S. Government space technology trade restrictions, specifically the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and additional regulations governing satellite, launch vehicle, missile, and other related technologies. All jobs restricted by these regulations will be contingent upon the applicant’s status as a documented U.S. Person or their ability to receive a trade license from the cognizant government agency; in addition to any required company background checks and in compliance with applicable U.S. and California laws. Similarly, positions requiring the ability to work on government contracts or a security clearance are also contingent upon the applicants ability to receive the appropriate clearance and be allowed to work on U.S. government contracts.
You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Astra, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.
San Francisco Applicants: Astra will consider applicants with arrest and conviction records (criminal histories) in a manner consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.
