Senior Build Reliability Engineer (Propulsion)

Impulse Space•Redondo Beach, CA

9d•$140,000 - $170,000•Onsite

About The Position

As a Senior Build Reliability Engineer (Propulsion) at Impulse, you will own the connection between design requirements, manufacturing execution, and flight performance for the propulsion hardware. You will work hands-on with technicians, manufacturing engineers, and supporting teams to prevent defects before they occur, rapidly diagnose failures, and continuously improve hardware reliability across spacecraft builds.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field
5+ years of experience in hardware manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, or high-reliability systems
Demonstrated experience supporting production builds, integration, or test of primary structures and/or complex mechanical or electromechanical systems
Strong problem-solving skills with demonstrated root cause analysis experience
Strong theoretical and working knowledge of GD&T

Nice To Haves

7+ years of demonstrated build reliability experience with spacecraft, launch vehicles, aviation, robotics, or defense hardware
Familiarity with AS9100, ISO 9001, or similar quality systems (practical application preferred over documentation focus)
Demonstrated experience with reliability engineering concepts (FMEA, reliability growth, Weibull analysis)
Demonstrated background working closely with technicians and production teams
Demonstrated experience supporting rapid development or prototype-to-production transitions
Technical familiarity with propulsion assembly such as valves, cryogenics, high-pressure systems, injectors, feedlines, and fluid systems

Responsibilities

Identify, investigate, and eliminate build defects and failures through root cause analysis and corrective actions both within and outside of your work centers
Develop inspection requirements, acceptance criteria, and quality control processes aligned with hardware and mission reliability requirements. Assist in closeout inspections
Perform development testing to guide design decisions and characterize hardware performance
Provide design-for-reliability guidance during design reviews and build planning
Optimize MRP/ERP system modules for improved hardware trace, data collection, and overall reliability
Balance inspection and test with lean principles to ensure verifications are both comprehensive and streamlined
Develop and implement build quality metrics to heighten awareness and to improve quality landscape over time
Act as a specification custodian for inspection plans, storage and handling procedures, process control plans, and more
Own training and certification of elevated sign-off privileges for manufacturing technicians
Interface with supply chain to improve vendor hardware quality
Ensure hardware integrity by holding the line on quality standards, extreme-owning hardware containments, and driving corrective actions to completion