{"id":747543,"url":"https://alion.io/job/spacekinetic-senior-systems-integration-and-test-engineer","title":"Senior Assembly, Integration, and Test (AIT) Engineer","company":{"id":685289,"name":"Space Kinetic","domain":"spacekinetic.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/spacekinetic","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":95,"open_postings":34,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":145,"computed_at":"2026-10-30T05:48:23Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["El Segundo, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":118000,"max_usd":223000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":6333},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Siemens NX","optional":false},{"name":"SolidWorks","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2025-10-03T17:03:29Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-21","last_verified_at":"2026-10-30T15:58:27Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":391,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":390},"description":"A New Paradigm For Space Operations. \nWho We Are:\nSpace Kinetic is a dual-use space technology startup building a completely new architecture for space operations - one that brings the advantages of proliferated drone technology (low-cost, operationally flexible, attainable, distributed) to space missions while reducing the ecosystem's reliance on consumable fuel. In a world where many companies are focused on incrementally improving the status quo, we are focused on creating something entirely different - an architecture underpinned by new first principles to meet the opportunities and challenges of the third space age head-on. Our goal is to move away from one-to-one space architectures - where each satellite in a constellation has one (or a small # of) primary payloads attached to the bus -- and unlock a ‘one-to-many’ system, where each satellite has a large number of payloads which can be deployed from their host spacecraft at high velocities without firing a thruster.\nThis is not a role for someone looking for a traditional 40-hour work week. Space Kinetic is building ambitious, first-of-its-kind technology, and that requires urgency, ownership, and a high level of commitment to changing the foundational assumptions for everything we do in space.\nWhat You’ll Do:\nWe are seeking a Senior Assembly, Integration, and Test (AIT) Engineer to lead the assembly, integration, verification, and testing of complex aerospace hardware and systems.\nThis is a highly hands-on engineering role responsible for taking hardware from engineering release through assembly, integration, functional testing, environmental qualification/acceptance testing, and final delivery. The ideal candidate has significant experience working directly with aerospace hardware, understands both mechanical and electrical integration, and is comfortable troubleshooting complex systems in a fast-paced development and production environment.\nThe Senior AIT Engineer will work closely with mechanical, electrical, systems, software, manufacturing, quality, and test engineering teams to ensure flight hardware is assembled correctly, tested thoroughly, and delivered on schedule.\nJob Responsibilities\nLead assembly, integration, and test (AIT) activities for aerospace vehicles, spacecraft, payloads, subsystems, and ground support equipment, owning hardware through assembly, functional testing, environmental testing, and final verification.\nDevelop and maintain assembly procedures, work instructions, integration plans, test plans, and test procedures to ensure consistent, repeatable hardware integration and testing.\nPlan and execute mechanical and electrical integration, including installation of structures, mechanisms, avionics, harnesses, sensors, payloads, and other flight hardware; support first-article builds and transition prototypes into repeatable production processes.\nProvide hands-on engineering support on the manufacturing and integration floor, troubleshooting mechanical, electrical, and system-level issues and leading or supporting root cause investigations, nonconformance resolution, corrective actions, and failure investigations.\nPlan and execute environmental testing, including thermal vacuum (TVAC), vibration, shock, and EMI/EMC testing, and perform functional checkouts and system-level verification before and after testing.\nDefine test configurations, instrumentation, and data acquisition requirements; design or coordinate tooling, fixtures, test equipment, and ground support equipment for assembly, integration, and testing.\nReview engineering drawings, CAD models, schematics, wiring diagrams, interface control documents, and engineering requirements to ensure hardware readiness; coordinate with design engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, and program teams to support scheduled integration activities.\nImprove AIT processes to increase quality, repeatability, efficiency, and production throughput, including supporting the development and implementation of automated test equipment and test scripts.\nDevelop and improve AIT processes, automated test equipment, and test scripts to increase repeatability, quality, efficiency, and production throughput.\nWhat it Takes:\nBachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering.\n5+ years of professional aerospace experience supporting rockets, launch vehicles, satellites, spacecraft, aircraft, missiles, or similar flight systems.\n5+ years of hands-on experience in aerospace hardware assembly, integration, manufacturing, testing, or production, including developing and executing assembly, integration, work, or test procedures.\nHands-on experience troubleshooting mechanical, electrical, and system-level hardware issues, including nonconformance investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective actions.\nAbility to interpret engineering drawings, CAD models, GD&T, electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, and engineering requirements.\nStrong understanding of engineering configuration control, hardware traceability, and accurate as-built documentation.\nExperience working directly with technicians and engineers during hardware assembly, integration, and test operations.\nAbility to own complex hardware issues, drive them to closure with limited supervision, and collaborate across mechanical, electrical, systems, software, manufacturing, quality, and program teams.\nWhat We’d Love:\nExperience with spacecraft, satellites, launch vehicles, payloads, or other spaceflight hardware.\nExperience leading end-to-end AIT campaigns, from subsystem integration through vehicle-level verification, qualification, and acceptance testing.\nHands-on experience with environmental testing, including TVAC, vibration, shock, acoustics, and EMI/EMC.\nExperience with avionics, electrical power systems, wiring harnesses, sensors, RF systems, mechanisms, or propulsion systems.\nExperience with mechanical assembly processes, including bolted joints, precision alignment, bonding, staking, torquing, shimming, and flight hardware installation.\nExperience developing test fixtures, integration tooling, and ground support equipment.\nExperience using electrical test equipment, including oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, power supplies, electronic loads, data acquisition systems, and automated test equipment.\nExperience with CAD and PLM software, such as Siemens NX and SolidWorks, familiarity with aerospace workmanship and quality standards, or experience supporting launch-site integration and scaling AIT processes for higher-rate production.\nWhere You'll Be: \nThe position is onsite at our headquarters in El Segundo, CA. Domestic travel may be required (up to ~20% of the year). \nWhat We Offer: \nEquity-Based Compensation\n401(k) retirement plan with a 3.5% company match\nHighly Competitive PTO\nPaid company holidays + winter break \nComprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance\nUnique Performance-based bonus opportunities\nITAR Requirements: \nTo conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must be (i) a U.S. citizen or national, (ii) a U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) a refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, (iv) an asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. \nEqual Employment Opportunity: \nSpace Kinetic provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. \nThe annual base salary for this role is below. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education/experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.\nThe annual base salary for this role is below. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education/experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity. \nPay Range\n$150,000—$190,000 USD","description_format":"text","description_chars":8497,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Retirement plans","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Missiles","Space Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-11T14:41:29Z"},{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-21T22:30:55Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":15,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.523,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":391,"expected_fill_days":145,"reasons":["conf:2","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-30T05:48:23Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacekinetic-senior-systems-integration-and-test-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/spacekinetic-senior-systems-integration-and-test-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-30T16:12:12Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":4277,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-31T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":685289},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=685289"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fspacekinetic-senior-systems-integration-and-test-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fspacekinetic-senior-systems-integration-and-test-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fspacekinetic-senior-systems-integration-and-test-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/spacekinetic-senior-systems-integration-and-test-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fspacekinetic-senior-systems-integration-and-test-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":747543}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"spacekinetic.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":747543},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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