For over 50 years, Maxar-built spacecraft have passed across our skies, landed on other planets, and helped humans explore space. We enable global communications, commerce, education, entertainment, health services, disaster recovery, and earth observation. Our teams are currently working on a broad range of projects, including Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), a key element of NASA’s Lunar Gateway project, a new spacecraft platform that can support DoD missile defense, and a variety of Geo-comm satellites.
Our Palo Alto based team is currently seeking a Manager of Propulsion Engineering. In this role, you will report to the Senior Manager of Propulsion Engineering and be responsible for leading a team of engineers responsible for selection, procurement, and testing of electric and chemical propulsion hardware. You and your team will work closely with our supply chain, subcontracting team, and propulsion subsystem engineers to support heritage spacecraft platforms and development of new propulsion architectures for our new ventures.
Who you are: You are technical in nature and extremely well organized. You are business savvy and collaborate effectively with external partners. You love leading teams and helping people grow.
Who we are:
We are always curious – our history has proven our innovation, and this is the cornerstone of our success. We stay curious and continuously learn to improve our product, processes, and culture. When we find out that we did something wrong or there’s a better way to do it, we work to immediately fix it. You embody a growth mindset and help us further move the needle.
We are highly collaborative and work better together – the work that we do is at the intersection of everything: Business Development, Product Management, other Subsystems, Systems Engineering, AIT, Supply Chain. We are all highly intertwined with one another and we only succeed if we move together as a whole. You thrive at these intersections and your success will be through these relationships. You’re also a storyteller and multi-technical-lingual, meaning that you’re able to distill the most important of information when speaking to others so they understand you.
You matter – we are very serious about YOU and your development. We will work closely with you to help you craft and advance your career objectives by providing many opportunities for networking, growth, and learning. We also expect that you provide this YOU-focus to your team as well. You lead with empathy for others’ physical and mental health, and focus on team member needs for inclusion, development, and growth.
Responsibilities:
Lead your team: your team is responsible for spacecraft propulsion hardware. This includes the selection, procurement, and qualification testing of thrusters and fluid management hardware used on chemical and electric propulsion subsystems, working cross functionally within the Propulsion Engineering organization, developing component specifications, and collaborating with to ensure that spacecraft performance requirements are met. Building and sustaining a strong team will be your on-going responsibility, as you nurture the team’s strengths in program execution, problem solving, and innovation.
Focus on your team: Mentor, train, develop, provide opportunities for your team members based their needs and those of the organization
Foster a collaborative working environment: within your team as well as cross-functionally across the company
Be a partner: with Supply Chain to pro-actively manage procurements, with Business Development / Mission Architecture to develop new architectures, with the Propulsion Subsystems leads, Systems Engineering, and AIT to ensure clean hand-offs
Continuously improve: Tease out product and/or process inefficiencies and make it better
Own and manage workload: you proactively manage your schedule, and work alongside your peers to ensure stakeholder needs are met.
Minimum Requirements:
Must be a U.S. citizen
Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, mathematics, or a related field.
Minimum Of 8 Years Of Related Work Experience
Minimum of 2 years leading teams and/or directly managing people
Knowledgeable and up-to-date on current state-of-the-art propulsion technologies
Preferred Qualifications:
Knowledge with in-space propulsion systems and hardware
Understanding of the product life cycle from cradle to grave
Experience with one or more of the following: preparing specifications, developing and verifying requirements, qualification testing, identification and resolution of hardware anomalies, failure analysis, tracking and maintaining quality metrics.
Maxar Technologies values diversity in the workplace and is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.