Director of Avionics

Location: Los Angeles, California

About the Role

As Director of Avionics Manufacturing, you'll own the end-to-end manufacturing and test organization responsible for the electronics that power, control, and connect the launch vehicle. This includes flight computers, PCBs and PCBAs, wire harnesses, sensors, integrated avionics units, and environmental and functional testing. You'll help determine how this hardware gets built, tested, and scaled as the vehicle moves toward first flight.

You'll lead across manufacturing engineering, production operations, and environmental & functional test, collaborating directly with design engineering, systems, vehicle integration, supply chain, and quality.

Responsibilities

• Own manufacturing and test for the vehicle's avionics hardware
• Build and scale multidisciplinary manufacturing and operations teams
• Develop scalable, high-reliability processes for PCBAs, wire harnesses, and integrated avionics
• Build the test infrastructure required to support production
• Drive the transition from development into higher-rate manufacturing
• Improve yield, reliability, throughput, and cycle time
• Introduce automation, digital production tools, and lean manufacturing practices
• Ensure hardware is manufacturable, testable, and ready for vehicle integration
• Work across engineering, test, quality, supply chain, and vehicle integration to remove production bottlenecks
• Ensure the avionics organization can deliver flight hardware at rate and at the required quality

Requirements

We're looking for a senior manufacturing leader with 10+ years in aerospace, space, automotive, electronics, or another high-reliability manufacturing environment, including significant leadership responsibility. You should understand what it takes to manufacture and test complex electro-mechanical hardware.

Skills & Experience

• PCB/PCBA manufacturing
• Wire harness fabrication
• Integrated avionics
• Electronics manufacturing
• ESD control
• Conformal coating and potting
• Functional and environmental testing (thermal, vibration, RF/electrical validation)
• Automated test and high-rate production
• Experience building and developing teams in fast-paced environments

Additional valuable experience includes:

• Spaceflight avionics or other flight-critical electronics
• IPC standards and EMC testing
• Automated test development
• Ground Support Equipment (GSE)
• Battery manufacturing
• Lean/Six Sigma
• Standing up new production and test lines

Benefits

• Competitive base salary
• Equity package
• Wider benefits package

About the Company

This role offers the unique opportunity to influence the processes, infrastructure, and team that will manufacture flight avionics for a next-generation reusable rocket before its first flight. The company is developing a medium-to-heavy lift rocket designed to compete at the top of the commercial launch market, with a long-term vision extending to industrial capability beyond Earth.