Manager, Ground System Fluids Engineering Verified today

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. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly was the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing.

Team Leadership & Management

• Lead and mentor a team of engineers as they design, build, activate, and optimize fluid ground systems in support of launch vehicles and spacecraft
• Recruit, develop, and retain top engineering talent with passion for advancing space access
• Set clear goals, provide regular feedback, align individual development with company targets, conduct performance reviews, and nurture a healthy and challenging team culture
• Inspire and nurture a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement
• Define and manage project definition, project milestones, hand-off, and resource supply/demand forecasts
• Help engineers develop the tools and skills to communicate effectively through project reporting, design reviews, build readiness reviews, Con-Ops reviews, activation SITs, and project handoffs

Technical Leadership

• Establish and enforce the Firefly GSE Fluid System Standard
• Work with customers and work centers to adhere to best practices for fluid system fabrication, installation, operation, and maintenance
• Oversee design, construction, and deployment of GSE fluid systems including requirement gathering, managing internal customer relationships, project status reporting, technical design reviews, manufacturing/build readiness reviews, work instruction creation, fabrication and installation support, and activation and handoff
• Review and approve control document packages including P&IDs, relief calculation documentation, bills of materials, instrument specifications, critical spare inventory lists, and process flow diagrams
• Identify and resolve operational issues for fluid systems across all of Firefly
• Ensure compliance with Aerospace quality standards, safety requirements, and local regulations

Cross Functional Collaboration

• Coordinate and manage relationships with interdisciplinary teams to set project requirements, coordinate complex construction projects (new test stands, launch sites, vehicle handling/integration systems), manage scope creep, and balance technical rigor with program urgency
• Work with other GSE leaders to manage dependencies between mechanical, fluid, and electrical systems on capital builds
• Communicate with program teams to manage resource allocation in alignment with program and company priority
• Gather information from various internal stakeholders and forecast fluid system design demand
• Work with fluids engineers to manage capital budgets for ground support capital projects

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical discipline
• Minimum 5 years of experience in integration and/or testing of process control systems, spacecraft test equipment, or launch systems
• Minimum 2 years of direct management experience or team leadership experience
• Strong fluids fundamentals with hands-on experience operating or troubleshooting fluid systems, conducting simulations/models, specifying fluid system hardware, or similar experience
• Working knowledge of common fluid system hardware: ball valves, gate valves, solenoid valves, needle valves, butterfly valves, check valves, relief valves, shut down valves, regulators
• Working knowledge of common fluid components/connections: NPT, AN, Swage, VC, welded
• Excellent communication, planning, and organizational skills
• Demonstrated ability and desire to work with interdisciplinary teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Spacecraft/launch vehicle test and validation experience or equivalent industrial fluid system design experience
• Experience with launch site and/or test site operations
• Experience fabricating a fluids panel/fluids system
• Experience specifying and installing instrumentation
• Familiarity with specifications and aerospace quality standards (AS9100, AFSPCMAN 91-710, ASME B31.3, ASME Section 8, NASA)
• A balanced sense of urgency and risk management style to handle interdisciplinary conflicts
• Experience managing vendor relationships and external contractors

Benefits

Firefly offers generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational/relocation reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

Employment Authorization

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.