Vehicle Engineer Jobs in Texas (NOW HIRING)

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

We are seeking a Spacecraft ATLO (Assembly, Test, Launch Operations) Vehicle Engineer to serve as the mission execution lead for spacecraft from integration through launch. This role acts as the primary ATLO liaison between Program Management and the organizations responsible for spacecraft assembly, integration, test, environmental acceptance, and launch operations.

Assigned to specific spacecraft missions, the Vehicle Engineer maintains end-to-end ownership of the spacecraft through the ATLO campaign, ensuring alignment between schedule, technical execution, configuration management, risk management, and mission readiness. This individual serves as the single point of contact for mission status and coordinates activities across engineering, quality, integration, test, flight software, and launch teams.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Serve as the assigned Vehicle Engineer for one or more spacecraft missions from integration through launch.
• Own and maintain the ATLO schedule from program CDR through launch operations.
• Maintain holistic awareness of spacecraft configuration, build progress, schedule status, risks, and mission readiness.
• Act as the primary interface between Program Management and production, integration, test, environmental test, and launch organizations.
• Track mission-level action items, risks, constraints, readiness criteria, and critical path activities.
• Support planning and execution of spacecraft assembly, integration, functional test, environmental test, and launch campaigns.
• Develop a detailed understanding of spacecraft architecture, mission objectives, operational concepts, and mission success criteria.
• Understand interactions between spacecraft hardware, avionics, flight software, ground systems, and mission operations.
• Perform or support spacecraft functional testing, commanding, telemetry monitoring, and mission verification activities during integration, environmental testing, and launch preparation.
• Evaluate test plans and verification strategies to ensure mission-critical functionality is adequately tested while maintaining spacecraft safety.
• Support anomaly investigations, risk reviews, readiness reviews, and configuration control activities.
• Assess operational and schedule impacts of engineering changes, software updates, nonconformances, and program decisions.
• Ensure spacecraft configuration integrity and mission readiness throughout the spacecraft lifecycle.
• Drive continuous improvement in mission execution processes, integration flow, and cross-functional coordination.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of experience supporting spacecraft, launch vehicle, aviation, or other complex aerospace systems.
• Experience supporting spacecraft integration, functional testing, environmental testing, launch campaigns, mission operations, and systems engineering activities.
• Working knowledge of spacecraft avionics, command and telemetry systems, and flight software concepts.
• Experience supporting spacecraft functional testing, mission simulations, or end-to-end vehicle verification activities.
• Strong understanding of spacecraft systems, integration, test, and launch operations.
• Experience working across engineering, manufacturing, and program organizations.
• Excellent organizational, communication, and technical leadership skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with spacecraft configuration management, risk management, and change control processes.
• Experience as an ATLO lead on a spacecraft mission
• Experience supporting readiness reviews, anomaly investigations, and change control boards.
• Systems engineering, mission management, or vehicle engineering experience.
• Experience with production-oriented spacecraft programs.
• Experience supporting launch site operations and launch campaigns.
• Comfortable serving as the mission owner and primary coordination focal point for assigned spacecraft builds.

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status