Staff Manufacturing Engineer, Spacecraft

About Capella

Capella, an IonQ company, spans national security, advanced sensing, and next-generation compute to deliver secure, mission-ready intelligence. Capella’s culture is built on collaboration, rigorous engineering, and a shared commitment to delivering solutions that strengthen global stability and security. Team members work side-by-side with some of the most innovative minds in space systems, quantum-enabled technologies, and mission-critical operations.

Capella values curiosity, resilience, and a willingness to tackle hard problems with precision and creativity. Capella welcomes and encourages applicants whose perspectives are historically underrepresented in technology, national security, and aerospace. No prior space experience is required. Diverse viewpoints strengthen Capella’s ability to innovate and deliver meaningful impact for partners worldwide.

Location: This role is based onsite at our office in Louisville, CO.

Travel: Up to 5%

Job ID: 1698

The Role

Capella Space is looking for a Staff Manufacturing Engineer with extensive experience in spacecraft manufacturing. In this role, you will lead the manufacturing of multiple satellite configurations from initial bus assembly, payload integration, and launch base integration.

Responsibilities

• Own execution of all spacecraft assembly and integration activities, ensuring hardware is built to engineering requirements, quality standards, and production schedules.
• Develop work instructions and manufacturing processes with a focus on increasing yield and reducing cycle time.
• Lead investigation, resolution, and root cause/corrective action for non-conformances.
• Design and own large scale GSE needed for manufacturing and integrating spacecrafts.
• Review models and drawings to ensure conformance with manufacturing requirements and to increase manufacturability.
• Partners with engineering on Design for Manufacturing (DFM) to improve producibility, reduce cycle time, and minimize defects.
• Partner with supply chain and supplier base to improve material first pass yield.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in the manufacturing of spacecrafts or complex electro-mechanical systems in an aerospace or space environment.
• Hands on manufacturing and test experience
• Deep knowledge of ASME Y14.5 GD&T standards
• Proficient in 3D CAD (Solidworks preferred)
• Proficient with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Capella Employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable. Learn more about ITAR here.

Compensation

The approximate base salary range for this position is $126,887 - $166,127. The total compensation package includes base salary, bonus, equity, and a range of benefits available on our career site.