Manager, Spacecraft Mission Testbed Development

Firefly Aerospace•Cedar Park, TX

11d

About The Position

The Manager of Spacecraft Mission Testbed Development is responsible for leading the execution, technical development, and operation of Firefly's Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) testbed organization across all spacecraft programs. This role manages the engineering and technician teams responsible for designing, building, deploying, operating, and maintaining spacecraft mission testbeds while ensuring infrastructure is delivered safely, reliably, and on schedule. Working closely with the Testbed Architect, Responsible Engineers, and mission leadership, the manager provides hands-on technical leadership during testbed development, balances resources across multiple concurrent programs, and ensures mission teams have high-quality test environments that support spacecraft integration, verification, and mission readiness. The manager is responsible for execution across FlatSat, RackSat, and Payload Integration Test (PIT) environments while developing a scalable organization capable of supporting Firefly's growing multi-bus, multi-mission portfolio.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
8+ years of engineering experience supporting spacecraft, aerospace, defense, or other complex hardware development programs.
3+ years of technical leadership or engineering management experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
Demonstrated experience designing, integrating, or operating complex hardware test systems, spacecraft integration environments, or Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) systems.
Strong understanding of spacecraft integration, verification, and validation processes.
Experience leading cross-functional engineering efforts involving multiple technical disciplines.
Proven ability to manage technical projects involving scope, schedule, cost, and resource planning.
Experience developing engineering processes, standard work, and operational procedures.
Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex system-level hardware integration issues.
Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with engineers, program managers, and executive leadership.
Ability to travel occasionally to customer and partner facilities supporting offsite testbeds.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Engineering or Systems Engineering.
Experience with spacecraft avionics, flight software, GNC, propulsion, payload, or electrical integration.
Experience developing modular system architectures or reusable engineering infrastructure.
Experience implementing engineering configuration management processes for hardware and software systems.
Experience leading laboratory operations, capital equipment planning, or engineering facility development.
Experience with electrical integration including harnessing, instrumentation, data acquisition systems, power distribution, and interface hardware.
Familiarity with EGSE development, mission simulation environments, and spacecraft command and telemetry systems.
Experience managing engineering support for multiple concurrent spacecraft or aerospace development programs.
Experience establishing engineering organizations, growing teams, or standing up new technical capabilities.
Working knowledge of systems engineering practices including interface management, requirements verification, and design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR).
Experience working with external customers, government agencies, or industry partners on integrated spacecraft programs.

Responsibilities

Lead the engineering and technician teams responsible for spacecraft mission testbed development, deployment, maintenance, and operations.
Provide technical leadership throughout the design and implementation of hardware in the loop environments while supporting mission-specific integration activities.
Balance engineering resources across multiple concurrent spacecraft programs to meet schedule, cost, and technical objectives.
Partner with the Testbed Architect to implement common infrastructure, modular designs, and standardized development practices across all spacecraft programs.
Collaborate with Responsible Engineers to integrate spacecraft hardware into shared testbed infrastructure while supporting mission-specific verification objectives.
Manage staffing, hiring, mentoring, performance management, and technical development of engineers and technicians.
Report organizational status, resource needs, technical risks, and execution progress to spacecraft program leadership.
Support continuous improvement initiatives that increase hardware reuse, reduce deployment time, improve reliability, and enable simultaneous support of multiple spacecraft programs.