Please Note: To conform with the United States Government Space Technology Export Regulations, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., conditional resident, asylee or refugee (protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
At CesiumAstro, we are developers and pioneers of out-of-the-box communication systems for satellites, UAVs, launch vehicles, and other space and airborne platforms. We take pride in our dynamic and cross-functional work environment, which allows us to learn, develop, and engage across our organization. If you are looking for hands-on, interactive, and autonomous work, CesiumAstro is the place for you. We are actively seeking passionate, collaborative, energetic, and forward-thinking individuals to join our team.
We are looking to add an Engineering Manager, Wire Harness to our team. If you enjoy working in a startup environment and are passionate about developing leading-edge hardware for satellites, spacecraft, and aerospace systems, we would like to hear from you.
In this position, you will lead a team of engineers responsible for the design, development, integration, qualification, and production support of electrical wire harness assemblies for aerospace and defense applications. This role provides technical leadership, people leadership, and program execution oversight to ensure wire harness designs meet performance, reliability, manufacturability, cost, and schedule objectives.
The Engineering Manager partners closely with Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Program Management teams to deliver robust harness solutions throughout the product lifecycle. This position is responsible for developing engineering talent, establishing design standards, managing technical risk, and driving continuous improvement initiatives across wire harness engineering activities.
### KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Technical Leadership
Lead the design, development, and integration of complex electrical wire harness systems supporting aerospace and defense products.
Oversee harness architecture, routing, connector selection, shielding, grounding, and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) considerations.
Ensure compliance with applicable industry standards, customer requirements, and aerospace design practices.
Provide technical direction for schematic development, cable and harness drawings, bills of material, and installation documentation.
Guide engineering teams through design reviews, peer reviews, failure investigations, and root cause analyses.
Evaluate and approve engineering changes, deviations, waivers, and non-conformance dispositions related to harness systems.
Support qualification, environmental testing, EMI/EMC testing, and system integration activities.
Program Execution
Manage engineering resources to support program schedules, budgets, and technical objectives.
Coordinate engineering activities across multiple development and production programs.
Monitor project progress and proactively identify technical, schedule, and resource risks.
Collaborate with Program Management to establish priorities and ensure successful execution of engineering deliverables.
Support proposal efforts, cost estimating, and resource planning for new business opportunities.
Drive issue resolution and technical decision-making across cross-functional teams.
Manufacturing & Production Support
Partner with Manufacturing Engineering and Production teams to improve harness manufacturability and assembly efficiency.
Support transition from development to production, including work instructions, tooling requirements, and production readiness reviews.
Resolve production-related technical issues and implement corrective actions.
Lead continuous improvement efforts focused on quality, cycle time reduction, and cost optimization.
Support supplier selection, qualification, and technical oversight of harness fabrication vendors.
People Leadership
Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain high-performing engineering talent.
Establish performance expectations and provide ongoing coaching and feedback.
Conduct performance evaluations and support career development planning.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning.
Ensure appropriate staffing levels and workload distribution across engineering programs.
Process & Compliance
Establish and maintain wire harness engineering processes, standards, and best practices.
Ensure compliance with company procedures, configuration management requirements, and regulatory standards.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance engineering quality, efficiency, and scalability.
Support audits, customer reviews, and regulatory inspections as required.
### JOB REQUIREMENTS AND MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical discipline with 7+ years of progressive experience supporting electrical systems, wire harness design, avionics integration, or related aerospace applications
1-3 years of technical leadership, project leadership, or people management.
Experience with electrical interconnect systems, cable harness design, connector systems, and aerospace wiring standards.
Knowledge of aerospace manufacturing, qualification testing, and product lifecycle development processes.
Experience supporting spacecraft, satellites, military aircraft, or advanced aerospace systems.
Knowledge of IPC/WHMA-A-620, NASA, MIL-STD, and aerospace wiring requirements.
Experience with Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), and Design for Testability (DFT) principles.
Familiarity with AS9100 quality systems and configuration management processes.
Experience with ERP, PLM, configuration management, and document control systems.
Experience with wire harness design tools such as Capital, Zuken, or similar.
Experience with engineering collaboration and requirements management tools such as Jira, Confluence, Jama, and/or DOORS.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams).
Excellent written and spoken communication skills.
CesiumAstro considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills. Full-time employment offers include company stock options and a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability and retirement plans.
CesiumAstro is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Please note: CesiumAstro does not accept unsolicited resumes from contract agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited resumes submitted to our website or to CesiumAstro team members will be considered property of CesiumAstro, and we will not be obligated to pay any referral fees.
