Founding Lead Test & Integration Engineer
Pillar Space · Los Angeles, CA · hybrid
USD 185,000 to 275,000 per year
FOUNDING LEAD TEST & INTEGRATION ENGINEER
Equity: 0.3% – 1% depending on experience
ABOUT US
We're a stealth team building space hardware at the edge of what's currently possible — high-stakes, flight-grade systems where the engineering bar is unforgiving and the upside is enormous. While we can't share full details yet, our founding and early engineering team includes talent from SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, and Impulse Space, the group includes people who've pulled off feats almost no one else on Earth has.
ROLE OVERVIEW
We are seeking a Lead Test & Integration Engineer to own how our spacecraft is assembled, integrated, and proven ready for flight — from the first unit off the bench to the vehicle mated on the launch vehicle.
This is a senior technical leadership role. You will not only define and execute the integration and test strategy, but also help build the I&T team, set technical standards, mentor engineers and technicians, and establish the facilities, processes, and culture required to build and verify flight-grade spacecraft.
This is not a narrow test-execution role. You will own the full assembly, integration, and test (AIT) flow: unit acceptance, subsystem integration, flatsat and vehicle-level functional testing, environmental test campaigns, and launch site operations — plus the facilities, ground support equipment, and test automation that make it all repeatable. You will partner closely with avionics, flight software, propulsion, and mechanical on test requirements and design for testability, and make system-level trades across test coverage, schedule, cost, facility capability, and mission risk.
The ideal candidate has direct experience with spacecraft integration, environmental testing, ground support equipment, test automation, and technical team leadership. We recognize that very few people have all of this. What matters most is that you have exceptional fundamentals, have taken real hardware from integration through flight, have managed or mentored engineers or technicians in high-performance technical environments, and can operate independently in ambiguity while making sound engineering tradeoffs. You will have direct ownership over one of the company's core technical challenges.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Own the integration and test strategy, from early verification planning through unit acceptance, vehicle integration, environmental test, launch site operations, and flight readiness.
- Define the verification and test philosophy: test-like-you-fly, qualification versus protoflight versus acceptance levels, and test coverage mapped to requirements.
- Lead vehicle assembly and integration: integration sequences, mechanical and electrical mates and demates, harness installation, and safe-to-mate and first power-on procedures.
- Plan and execute environmental test campaigns: sine and random vibration, shock, acoustic, thermal cycling, thermal vacuum, EMI/EMC, mass properties, and deployment and separation testing.
- Own vehicle-level functional and performance testing: comprehensive and abbreviated performance tests, end-to-end command and telemetry checks, polarity and phasing tests, and day-in-the-life mission simulations.
- Build and maintain the flatsat and integrated test benches with avionics and flight software, and support hardware-in-the-loop and end-to-end testing with ground software and mission operations.
- Own electrical and mechanical ground support equipment: EGSE racks, solar array and battery simulators, umbilicals, breakout boxes, integration stands, lifting and rotation fixtures, and shipping containers.
- Build test automation and data infrastructure: scripted procedures, data acquisition, test databases, automated limit checking, and trending across units and builds.
- Establish and run integration and test facilities: cleanrooms, ESD control, contamination control, hazardous operations areas, and calibrated test equipment.
- Select and manage external test facilities and vendors for environmental, EMC, and specialized testing, and own test readiness reviews and campaign logistics.
- Partner with propulsion on pressure system proof and leak testing, propellant and pressurant loading, and hazardous operations procedures.
- Lead launch site operations: shipping, receiving inspection, final functional tests, fueling support, launch vehicle integration, and countdown support, in line with the launch provider's requirements and interface control documents.
- Drive anomaly investigation and root-cause resolution across hardware and software during integration and test, and own the nonconformance and failure reporting process (e.g., FRACAS, MRB).
- Provide technical leadership across integration, test, GSE, test automation, and launch operations efforts.
- Help hire, manage, mentor, and develop I&T engineers and technicians as the team grows.
- Establish I&T processes: test procedures and as-run records, work instructions and travelers, vehicle configuration control, discrepancy handling, and verification discipline appropriate for flight-grade hardware.
- Help define verification requirements, the verification matrix, test plans, schedules, and facility and staffing needs for the first vehicle and future production builds.
- Work closely with avionics, flight software, GNC, power, propulsion, thermal, mechanical, systems, quality, and mission operations to design for testability, close interfaces, and field an integrated flight system.
- Work closely with the founders and early engineering team to shape the technical roadmap, engineering culture, hiring plan, and long-term integration, test, and production strategy.
- Represent the I&T function in cross-disciplinary design reviews, test readiness and pre-ship reviews, customer conversations, investor diligence, vendor discussions, and launch provider coordination as needed.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical discipline.
- 8+ years integrating, testing, or launching spacecraft, launch vehicles, aircraft, or other high-reliability systems.
- Prior experience leading technical workstreams, managing engineers or technicians, mentoring junior and mid-level engineers, or building high-performing teams.
- Demonstrated ability to take complex hardware systems from integration through environmental test, flight readiness, and launch.
- Strong fundamentals across electrical systems, mechanical systems, structural dynamics, and thermal behavior, and how they interact during test.
- Hands-on experience planning and running environmental tests (e.g., vibration, shock, thermal vacuum) and interpreting the results.
- Experience writing and executing detailed test procedures and producing test reports and as-run records.
- Experience designing or specifying electrical and mechanical ground support equipment and test stands.
- Proficiency with test automation and data analysis (e.g., Python, LabVIEW, or comparable) and comfort working with spacecraft command and telemetry systems.
- Comfort reading schematics, wiring diagrams, mechanical drawings, and interface control documents, and troubleshooting across hardware and software.
- Experience with ESD, cleanroom, and contamination control practices for flight hardware.
- Lab and floor fluency: comfortable with multimeters, oscilloscopes, power supplies, data acquisition systems, accelerometers, thermocouples, torque tools, leak detectors, and lifting operations.
- Ability to work independently with limited direction, identify the right next problem to solve, and drive technical work from ambiguity to a flight-ready vehicle.
- Ability to make practical system-level tradeoffs across test coverage, schedule, cost, facility capability, reliability, and mission risk.
- Ability to lead through influence in a cross-functional environment spann