Environmental Lab Manager

The role

You will build and operate environmental test capabilities to support the R1 reactor and associated hardware. You will translate program needs into equipment and facility requirements and manage lab operations and technicians.

What you will do

• Build the environmental lab capability roadmap with test and design teams.
• Size and specify environmental chambers, electrodynamic shakers, and other test equipment.
• Coordinate with Facilities for power, cooling, ventilation, and equipment layout.
• Own technical vendor evaluations, procurement, installation, and commissioning.
• Identify applicable test specifications and methods with design and Quality teams.
• Establish procedures for test readiness, equipment operation, and reporting.
• Coordinate and support hands-on test execution and troubleshooting.
• Own equipment maintenance, calibration, operator training, and lab safety.
• Track lab capacity and recommend capability investments.
• Hire, train, and manage technicians as workload warrants.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, electrical, aerospace, or a related engineering field, or 7+ years of equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated experience owning environmental test equipment or lab operations, including thermal, vibration, or shock testing.
• Experience translating hardware and test requirements into equipment specifications, evaluating vendors, and bringing new equipment into service.
• Ability to assess equipment limits and facility needs and explain the tradeoffs behind equipment selection.
• Experience developing test procedures, working with instrumentation and data acquisition, troubleshooting test setups, and reviewing test results.
• Ability to turn incomplete requests into clear test objectives, required inputs, execution plans, and actionable results.
• Demonstrated ownership across engineering, Facilities, vendors, and technicians, with sound judgment on safety, schedule, and test quality.
• Work on site in Torrance, CA, with regular hands-on involvement in lab setup, commissioning, and testing.

Nice to have

• Experience establishing or expanding a lab, including capital planning, equipment commissioning, and operator training.
• Working familiarity with environmental test frameworks such as MIL-STD-810 or IEC 60068.
• Experience with electrodynamic shaker controllers, vibration fixtures, accelerometers, resonance surveys, and control or response limiting.
• Experience with thermal, humidity, thermal cycling, or thermal vacuum equipment and testing hardware that dissipates significant heat.
• Experience building scheduling, readiness, reporting, maintenance, and calibration processes in a growing organization.
• Experience supporting aerospace, defense, energy, or other hardware programs with formal qualification and traceability expectations.
• Experience hiring, training, and managing technicians.

About the company

Antares is building mass-producible, inherently safe, deployable microreactors to make clean energy abundant. The team includes members from SpaceX, the White House, the Pentagon, and various National Laboratories.