Senior Principal Engineer - Space Technology Development

At Honda, The Power of Dreams drives us to create intelligent products that enhance mobility and increase the joy in people’s lives. We continue to draw inspiration from the visionary ideas of our namesake, Soichiro Honda. He saw incredible power in the freedom of mobility and used his imagination to change the world. It is this mindset that guides us to help move people forward and protect the future we all share. We strive to earn the trust and support of the many diverse communities we happily serve, and we’ll always remember who’s in the driver’s seat on the way to a better world for all.

About the Role

This position will establish and lead engineering and technical development targeted for the U.S. space industry by building a high-performing engineering organization, transferring critical technologies and expertise from Japan, and establishing the facilities, capabilities, and processes needed to drive advanced development and long-term competitiveness.

Responsibilities

• Serve as technical leader aligning engineering activities with program objectives, customer needs, quality expectations, and long-term business growth.
• Develop, implement, and oversee a Safety & Mission Assurance framework that meets space industry expectations and regulatory requirements and ensure product reliability, risk mitigation, and compliance.
• Identify, establish, and scale U.S. development and testing capability both internally and externally to support model build, testing, and evaluation.
• Establish and lead a high-performing U.S. engineering organization by hiring, developing, and mentoring technical talent across multiple disciplines to support long-term product and capability growth.
• Define, standardize, and continuously improve engineering development processes including systems engineering, configuration management, design reviews, verification/validation, and readiness gate criteria to transform automotive development capabilities into space-qualified development processes.
• Drive successful technology and know-how transfer from Japan to the U.S. ensuring engineering teams fully understand the design intent, processes, standards, and system-level technical integration.

Requirements

Applicants for this role must be a US citizen, to qualify.

• A Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (e.g. Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems Engineering, or a closely related field).
• Minimum of around 10 years of relevant experience.
• Prior experience in aerospace or space systems development and working with NASA or equivalent space agencies preferred.
• Prior experience leading systems engineering activities in space programs.
• Experience in space hardware and/or software development, space experiments/investigation design, or space mission execution.
• Familiarity with NASA or the US space industry development and program approval processes.

Travel

This position may require up to 25% travel annually - combining domestic and international.

Schedule

This is an onsite job. One remote workday per week may be possible with prior departmental approval.

Benefits

• Competitive Base Salary (pay will be based on several variables that include, but not limited to geographic location, work experience, etc.).
• Regional Bonus (when applicable).
• Manager Lease Car Program (No Cost - Car, Maintenance, and Insurance included).
• Industry-leading Benefit Plans (Medical, Dental, Vision, Rx).
• Paid time off, including vacation, holidays, shutdown.
• Company Paid Short-Term and Long-Term Disability.
• 401K Plan with company match + additional contribution.
• Relocation assistance (if eligible).
• Lifestyle Account.
• Childcare Reimbursement Account.
• Elder Care Support.
• Tuition Assistance & Student Loan Repayment.
• Wellbeing Program.
• Community Service and Engagement Programs.
• Product Programs.