Principal Design Reliability Engineer

K2 Space • Los Angeles, CA

7d • $175,000 - $200,000

About The Position

You will ensure that every K2 spacecraft is designed, documented, and verified using rigorous, standardized processes that consistently meet requirements and deliver exceptionally reliable flight systems. You will own and continuously improve the design reliability framework for our spacecraft, driving the creation, enforcement, and evolution of design standards across the engineering organization.
You will lead development of K2’s design review processes, review templates, configuration management practices, and design verification standards, ensuring that each design iteration adheres to high-reliability principles and is validated in a consistent, traceable manner. You will exercise formal design review signoff authority and serve as a key technical gatekeeper during development.
As production begins, you will guide a disciplined handoff to Build Reliability, ensuring that manufacturing and test teams inherit well‑documented, fully verified designs. This role is ideal for a systems-minded engineer who thrives on structure, rigor, and enabling teams to build high-powered hardware right the first time.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical, aerospace, mechanical, computer, or other relevant engineering discipline
• 6+ years of experience in technical aerospace or manufacturing
• 3+ years of experience managing projects, technical trades, and/or technical teams
• Strong understanding of launch vehicles, spacecraft, or other aerospace systems
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree or PhD in an engineering or science discipline
• 10+ years of experience in technical aerospace or manufacturing
• 5+ years of experience managing projects or technical trades
• Active Top Secret or TS/SCI clearance
• Experience leading Spacecraft mission design, development, integration, test, and/or launch across multiple departments
• Proven ability to innovate in process improvement and system architectures
• Skilled in generating executive summaries to drive decision making through senior leadership discussions
• Familiarity with contracts and mission requirements evaluations
• Demonstrated track record of project ownership, responsibility for execution, and successful outcomes
• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain standardized design review processes, including templates, workflows, and review structures
• Serve as a design review signoff authority, ensuring all designs meet internal and customer requirements and reliability criteria before release
• Establish, document, and enforce comprehensive design and verification standards across engineering
• Define and manage design configuration management practices to ensure controlled, traceable design evolution
• Drive consistency in requirement interpretation, verification methods, and documentation across all engineering teams
• Partner with engineering leads to ensure designs are completed in a standard, verified fashion aligned with program requirements
• Lead and participate in cross-disciplinary reviews to evaluate design readiness, compliance, and verification closure
• Provide structured and complete design handoffs to Build Reliability as programs transition into production
• Ensure production and flight lessons learned are systematically captured and incorporated into future design iterations to drive continuous improvement and reliability growth
• Establish and enforce standardized processes for acceptance and qualification testing to ensure consistent, repeatable, and requirements‑compliant execution
• Operate effectively in a rapidly evolving startup where agility, autonomy, and proactive problem-solving are essential

Benefits

• Base salary range for this role is $175,000 - $200,000 + equity in the company
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level