Orbit Fab's mission is to create the foundational infrastructure that will fuel a bustling in-space economy, capable of sustaining permanent jobs in space.
Today, satellites cannot be refueled, which severely constrains their mobility and inhibits the development of economic activities in space.
Orbit Fab breaks the single-use paradigm, pioneering our Gas Stations in Space™ refueling infrastructure and RAFTI™ technology to deliver propellant in space, enabling lower-cost satellite construction, increased maneuverability, precise control, and extended lifespans. The possibilities are unprecedented, opening the doors to unimagined operational strategies and business models.
Since our establishment in 2018, we have already achieved the successful launch of three tankers to space. With offices in both the US and UK, we are working in close collaboration with partners and customers across the space industry. Orbit Fab is rapidly ramping up capabilities and requires exceptional talent to tackle important challenges. Our roles offer wide ranging opportunities to have a demonstrable impact and enable a bustling in space economy.
ROLE PURPOSE
As a development and test engineer, you will support the development of the key enabling technologies for enabling in-orbit refuelling, including fluidic interface components as well as the wider fluid systems that efficiently and safely deliver propellant. You will support early phase and bid work as well as later phase development, integration, and testing through to qualification, acceptance and delivery. A strong candidate will call upon a breadth of experience developing components and subsystems in spacecraft engineering and related fields, pursuing a hardware rich iterative approach to deliver on time and on budget. You will support multiple parallel prototyping and qualification campaigns, helping to build up our UK in house capabilities to support rapid iterative development.
We describe here the skills, qualifications, and responsibilities that we need to have as a team. You don't need all of them. Your aptitude for complex technical challenges and your practical experience designing/building/coding will trump specific qualification or tools.
ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
- Define and build up in house fluidic, electrical, and mechanical test capabilities
- Support on the definition and validation of analysis tools
- Support BD activities from an engineering perspective
- Manage and maintain development schedules, systems requirements, and design budgets
- Guide systems engineering processes and facilitate technical trades across multiple development programs
- Support technical decision-making processes and development
- Support technical reviews
- Lead test campaigns to verify subsystem and component performance and requirements compliance, developing procedures, and executing tests
- Identify technical issues and proactively implement resolutions to mitigate schedule and cost impacts
- Identify vendors and oversee component selection for development
- Interact with external suppliers, customers, and stakeholders for key development activities
- Ensure best practices are followed with regards to safety and help define robust approaches to support safe and efficient development campaigns.
- Provide technical mentorship to team members and monitor technical integrity of all team member contributions
- Support the writing of proposals and early phase study documentation
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND ATTRIBUTES
- Experience taking space fluid/mechanical/electrical components or subsystems from specification and concept phase through prototyping, detailed design, and AIT.
- Demonstrated collaboration with space systems engineering teams
- Experience with generation of verification and validation plans as well as executing qualification campaigns
- Deep knowledge and experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Mechanical systems development
- Mechanical GSE
- Fluidic GSE
- Electrical GSE
- Valve development
- Propulsion and fluid systems design and development
- Space systems engineering
- Experience defining customer needs and crafting engineering requirements, including a proven ability to successfully push back on unnecessary or mission affecting customer requirements.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
- BS degree and 3 years of related engineering experience, or MS degree in related field and 2 years of related engineering experience, or Ph.D. in related field
- If you don’t have the exact years or degree listed above, but your passion can’t be matched, don’t hesitate to apply!
NICE TO HAVE:
- Experience of cradle to grave (including flight operations) component and subsystem development.
- Experience of lab / development capability build up from blank slate
- Understanding of the spacecraft component supply chain
- Understanding of HSE for testing
- Understanding of industrial options for mechanical, fluidic, and electrical testing
- Experience with both low and high budget space system development
- Demonstrated experience working in a multi-disciplinary team
Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalized people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Orbit Fab, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply if you feel you would succeed in the role above.
SALARY
The estimated salary range for this position is £45,000-£65,000, depending on experience.
BENEFITS
Our benefits package includes:
- Highly competitive salary
- Education Allowance – £2.5k annual
- Private Healthcare – up to £2k annual
- Competitive stock-based compensation
- Competitive pension scheme
LOCATION
The UK Orbit Fab office is based at Harwell Campus, the UK’s preeminent gateway to the space industry, and only a short drive from Oxford with convenient access to London.
ELIGIBILITY
Candidate must have the right to work in the UK.
Orbit Fab does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.
