Senior Director of Spacecraft Components

About the role

Muon seeks an experienced leader to build and guide our Spacecraft Components organization through our next stage of rapid growth. This organization designs, qualifies, and delivers the components at the heart of every Muon spacecraft across three subteams: Electronics & Embedded (avionics, power electronics, RF, and electrical test), Modules & Mechanisms (integrated modules and actuation mechanisms, plus design support to our instrument and propulsion teams), and Solar & Deployables (solar arrays and deployable systems). The role reports to Muon's Senior Director of Hardware Engineering.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned, cross-disciplinary leader experienced at organizing and scaling rapidly growing teams, with strong program management skills. Experience designing and manufacturing low-volume, high-mix products efficiently is a must.

This role is split between our San Jose and Mountain View locations, with the expectation of regular onsite days at both.

Responsibilities

• Lead a multidisciplinary organization to architect, design, qualify, and deliver a catalog of spacecraft components - electronics, RF, integrated modules and mechanisms, and solar and deployable systems - serving a wide range of missions
• Own component roadmaps that balance the needs of concurrent missions and platform evolution, driving standardization and reuse across spacecraft platforms
• Own component-level design, analysis, qualification, and electrical test strategies, partnering with Hardware Reliability & Test to ensure consistent qualification across the catalog
• Provide engineering design support to instrument and propulsion teams through the Modules & Mechanisms team
• Collaborate with Product, Business Development, Systems Engineering, Software, and Operations to ensure components meet the needs of our growing mission portfolio; support proposals and cost models
• Partner with Production and Supply Chain to scale components from prototype builds to constellation quantities, designing for manufacturability and test
• Own budgets, schedules, and delivery milestones for component development programs
• Mentor and support multiple levels of team managers and enable scalable growth within the organization

Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience designing and/or managing the design of complex, high-reliability systems that operate in harsh environments (spacecraft, autonomous vehicles, drones, etc.)
• 8+ years of people management experience, including managing engineers and engineering managers
• Strong technical foundation spanning electrical, embedded, and mechanical design and analysis
• Experience designing and manufacturing low-volume, high-mix products efficiently
• Proven experience managing complex engineering projects from concept to deployment, including budget and schedule management
• Excellent leadership, program management, communication, and problem-solving skills; excited to work in a fast-paced environment with new challenges each week
• B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field

Nice-to-have Skills

• Flight heritage delivering spaceflight avionics, mechanisms, solar arrays, or similar components
• Experience standing up new teams or reorganizing engineering organizations during rapid growth
• Experience with vertically integrated hardware development, from in-house design through production at scale
• Experience with RF hardware or electrical test infrastructure development
• Experience supporting instrument or propulsion system development

Salary

The salary range for this role is $233,000 - $262,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process. 

About Muon Space

Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.

Taking Care of Our Team

At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave.

Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too.  Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We value diversity in the workplace, and that starts with our applicants. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check all the boxes, and we look forward to reviewing your application! In addition, if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

ITAR/EAR Requirements

This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.