VP of Engineering & Lead Engineer
EnduroSatAbout us We are EnduroSat! A fast-growing space scale-up at the forefront of satellite innovation, specializing in advanced software-flexible satellites for commercial, governmental, and scientific endeavors. This is more than a job, it's a mission We are making space universally accessible and redefining the possible We get things done We take ownership of what we do and we work hard to make a difference We are fearless Transpаrancy is our only way forward. We dare to address and resolve issues head-on We learn from our mistakes We deliver, take informed risks, and evolve to achieve our goals. We compare with the best version of ourselves What is the role? As our VP of Engineering & Chief Engineer, you will own the final technical delivery of EnduroSat US across hundreds of missions and the engineering organization that creates it. Systems engineering, mechanical, structural and FEA, thermal, software, and the other disciplines all report to you. You hold final technical authority on US programs: you decide what the system looks like, you sign off on the final architecture, and you are accountable when it does not work. The engineering problem here is not clean-sheet design. Our satellites share a common platform, and the value we deliver is the last mile on top of it — the integration, and mission-specific design that turns a proven bus into a spacecraft that does a particular customer's job. You will assess whether our existing system design can meet a given mission, decide where it must change, and conceive adapted or new capability where it cannot. That takes deeper judgment than drawing from scratch, because every decision must survive contact with a platform, a schedule, and a supply chain that already exist. You will be in front of customers regularly — large commercial, civil, and defense organizations whose engineering teams will test whether our answers hold up. You will shape mission concepts during capture, defend architectures at PDR and CDR, and make requirements less dumb. You need the depth to take final decisions yourself and exceptional focus to ignore the noise so a mission can achieve what it needs on time and on budget, not the perfect solution that never comes. You will work as a peer to our VP of Mission & Programs, who owns delivery and the program relationship. You own what we build and whether it will work; they own getting it delivered and flown. You will also be in close contact with the European technological leadership who own the platform you are building on — keeping US and European engineering aligned on standards, architecture, and interfaces is part of this job, not an afterthought. This role is based in Los Angeles and is primarily on-site, with travel to customers and to our European headquarters. You will report to C-level management. Some of your daily tasks will include: 1. Technical authority — own what we build Hold final technical authority on US programs. You sign the architecture, you arbitrate when disciplines disagree, and you decide how to get a design to the next step. Assess our system designs deeply and honestly. Know where the platform meets a mission as it stands and where we are stretching it. Know the competitive landscape and how our systems and subsystems stack up in it. Own the systems engineering function end to end. Mission analysis, concept of operations, requirements decomposition, subsystem allocation, interface control, verification, and the trades that set the payload integration & design delta. Own the technical side of the milestone reviews. Mission & Programs runs the cadence; you are accountable to get us through the program milestones such as SRR, PDR, CDR, and TRR (internally or externally). Own technical risk. Identify it, quantify it, decide what is impactful, what should be tested or modified, and tell the program team what it costs. Set the engineering standard across disciplines — analysis rigor, margin policy, documentat…