Lead Propulsion Test Engineer

The role

You will build and lead a team responsible for testing propulsion hardware that flies on Apex spacecraft. You will own the design, buildout, and operation of propulsion test infrastructure and vacuum test capabilities.

What you will do

• Build, lead, and develop a team of propulsion test engineers and technicians.
• Own the design, build, and operation of test stands for thrusters, flow controllers, PPUs, and integrated propulsion systems.
• Own Apex’s propulsion vacuum test infrastructure.
• Develop scalable acceptance test infrastructure and processes.
• Own propulsion test capacity, scheduling, throughput, data quality, and turnaround.
• Establish and enforce test safety standards for vacuum, high-pressure, high-voltage, and other hazardous operations.
• Partner with Environmental Test and Ground Software to standardize test tooling and automation.
• Work with cross-functional teams to define test requirements and ensure results are traceable.
• Support development testing, qualification, production acceptance, launch campaigns, and anomaly resolution.
• Own test infrastructure budgets, vendors, build-vs-buy decisions, and long-term capacity planning.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering, or a related technical field.
• 10+ years of test engineering experience with significant experience testing propulsion, vacuum, or other high-energy hardware.
• Experience designing, building, and commissioning test stands or test facilities, including instrumentation, data acquisition, controls, and GSE.
• Hands-on experience with vacuum test facilities, including pumping systems, chamber operations, and vacuum instrumentation.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing engineers and/or technicians.
• Strong understanding of test safety for vacuum, high-pressure, high-voltage, and hazardous operations.
• Experience owning test schedules, capacity, throughput, and data quality for complex hardware programs.
• Strong cross-functional communication skills.
• Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual) as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.15).

Nice to have

• Master’s or Ph.D. in a related engineering field.
• Experience testing electric propulsion hardware, including thrusters, cathodes, flow controllers, or PPUs.
• Experience with plasma or plume diagnostics, thrust measurement, and electric propulsion performance characterization.
• Experience building or scaling test infrastructure for high-rate hardware production, including production acceptance testing.
• Experience with automated test systems, standardized data acquisition, and ground software.
• Experience with environmental testing, including vibration, TVAC, or EMI/EMC.
• Experience with range safety, pressure systems, or related requirements such as SSCMAN/AFSPCMAN 91-710.

Benefits

• Equity in Apex
• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision for you and your dependents
• $100k life insurance at no cost
• Starting at 15 days vacation, growing to 20+ days annually
• 10 paid holidays
• 100% match on first 3% and 50% match on next 2% of 401(k)
• 8 weeks paid parental leave
• Childcare reimbursement up to $350/day for work-related travel
• Daily catered lunch and unlimited snacks
• Monthly office socials, pickleball tournaments, run club, and gatherings
• Dream desk setup

Before you apply

• Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual) as defined by ITAR
• Applicants must qualify as a U.S. Person or be able to obtain required export authorizations from the U.S. government

About the company

Apex manufactures satellite buses at scale using software, vertical integration, and hardware designed for manufacturing. The company aims to provide humankind access to the galaxy beyond our planet.