Engineering Manager, Mechanical (Spacecraft)

Engineering Manager, Mechanical (Spacecraft)

Denver, CO or Long Beach, CA

True Anomaly seeks those with the talent and ambition to build the technology that secures space.

True Anomaly delivers decisive capabilities for space superiority. We build autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors enabling the U.S. and its Allies to secure the space environment and counter threats from the ultimate high ground.

Be the offset. We create asymmetric advantages with creativity and ingenuity.

What would it take? We challenge assumptions to deliver ambitious results.

It's the people. Our team is our competitive advantage and we are better together.

We are seeking a Manager of Spacecraft Mechanical Engineering to build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of 610 mechanical engineers working across our LEO/GEO satellite, small sat, and on-orbit servicing vehicle programs. This is a people leadership role that also maintains your connection to the work through executing scope. In partnership with other managers you will co-own organizational health, department best practices, standard processes, requirements, technical direction, hiring, and career development for a team spanning entry-level through staff engineers. You will partner closely with systems engineering, program management, propulsion, avionics, and manufacturing to ensure the mechanical engineering function delivers flight-ready hardware with speed, precision, and quality across all active programs. If you are a seasoned spacecraft mechanical engineer ready to lead a team doing some of the most consequential vehicle design work in the defense space industry, this is your mission.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and develop a team of 610 Mechanical Engineers across LEO/GEO satellite, small sat, and on-orbit servicing vehicle programs at the GravityWorks facility.
• Own all people management responsibilities: hiring, onboarding, performance management, compensation reviews, career development planning, and succession planning; partner with recruiting to define roles, calibrate experience levels, and close top engineering talent.
• Set clear performance expectations and individual development plans for each team member; identify and develop future technical leads and staff engineers; foster an inclusive, high-trust team culture grounded in True Anomaly's values of relentless ownership, intellectual curiosity, and first-principles thinking.
• Serve as the engineering authority and escalation point for spacecraft mechanical design decisions across all active programs spanning structures, mechanisms, electronics packaging, and propulsion integration; develop and maintain mechanical engineering standards, design practices, GD&T conventions, and CAD model management disciplines across the team.
• Establish design review cadence, perform technical checker duties on high-criticality deliverables, and ensure quality and completeness of the team's mechanical design packages; chair or oversee spacecraft design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, MRR, PSR) and drive closure of technical risks, RFIs, and action items.
• Interface directly with program managers, chief engineers, and customer stakeholders on mechanical status, risk, and schedule; drive DFM culture into upstream hardware design organizations and establish formal cross-functional touchpoints.
• Lead resource planning and capacity management across concurrent programs; partner with systems engineering, propulsion, avionics, thermal, and manufacturing teams to ensure cross-discipline integration and system-level compliance, and flag resourcing gaps to leadership.
• Champion continuous improvement in mechanical design efficiency, drawing and model quality, and hardware delivery cycle time; support proposal efforts and new program captures in partnership with program management and business development.
• Maintain working-level technical oversight of spacecraft mechanical design including: primary and secondary structural design and margin compliance, mechanism and deployment system development, electronics and avionics packaging, propulsion subsystem mechanical integration, mass properties management, and ICD ownership; develop and approve qualification and acceptance test plans, witness testing, and resolve anomalies and non-conformances.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline; graduate degree strongly preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of professional experience in mechanical design, with the majority spent on spacecraft or satellite hardware programs; at least 3 years in a formal people management role or equivalent experience leading, mentoring, and technically directing a team of engineers; demonstrated success hiring, developing, and retaining engineering talent across multiple experience levels (entry through staff).
• Clear understanding of product life cycles and program execution; proven track record managing a complex mechanical design portfolio across multiple concurrent spacecraft programs from concept through flight delivery, including ownership of technical risk, schedule, and cross-subsystem integration.
• Demonstrated expertise in spacecraft structural design for launch load environments, including experience with multiple launch vehicle ICDs and structural margin compliance; extensive hands-on experience with spacecraft mechanisms design, including flight-qualified deployment systems, precision mechanisms, and on-orbit moving assemblies.
• Expert-level proficiency in NX (Siemens) and/or SolidWorks, including complex multi-subsystem assemblies and configuration management; mastery of GD&T principles with experience defining and enforcing drawing standards across a team or organization; strong familiarity with spacecraft and aerospace standards (e.g., NASA-STD-5001, GEVS, AIAA S-110, MIL-SPEC) and their application to design, analysis, and test.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and executive-level communication skills; ability to influence program management, systems engineering, propulsion, avionics, manufacturing, and quality organizations without direct authority, and to present complex technical topics to senior leadership, customers, and government stakeholders.
• U.S. citizenship required; ability to obtain or maintain an active Secret clearance required.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Direct management experience leading mechanical engineering teams of 5 or more engineers in an aerospace or defense environment; prior experience building team processes, role ladders, and engineering standards from the ground up at a high-growth defense or new space company.
• Prior experience as a lead mechanical engineer or chief engineer on a spacecraft program, with ownership of vehicle-level mechanical architecture and cross-subsystem integration across multiple programs delivered to flight.
• Deep experience with on-orbit servicing, proximity operations, or rendezvous and docking systems, including servicer-to-client structural and mechanism interfaces; experience with smallsat and CubeSat platforms including rapid development cycles, COTS hardware integration, and aggressive mass and volume constraints.
• Experience with spacecraft electronics packaging: avionics integration, thermal interface design, harness architecture, and integration and test planning; familiarity with structural analysis and FEA methods (e.g., NASTRAN, Ansys) and ability to guide and review analysis performed by the broader team.
• Experience supporting business development, proposal writing, and new program captures in a technical leadership capacity.
• Active Secret or TS/SCI clearance.

Compensation

• Base Salary: $140,000-$225,000
• Equity + Benefits including Health, Dental, Vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO and paid holidays, 401K, Parental Leave

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, location, and experience.

Additional Requirements

• Ability to maintain or obtain TS//SCI clearance
• Work Location this role will be onsite at either our Centennial, CO or Long Beach, CA location, with travel to other sites as needed.
• Work environment the work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person's working conditions while performing the job.
• Physical demands the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.