The posting
- Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California / Houston, Texas (Remote initially)
- Employment Type: Full-Time
- Department: Engineering
- Reports To: Space Systems Engineer
- Annual Base Salary: USD $120,000 – $160,000 per year
- Stock Options: 0.75% – 1.50%
About Graviron
Graviron Aerospace is building the next generation of reusable autonomous orbital vehicles for post-launch space services.
Our first platform, Orbit Keeper, is designed to support inspection, servicing, orbital relocation, hosted payload missions, and other in-space operations. Our long-term vision is to build scalable space logistics infrastructure that makes operating in orbit more accessible, flexible, and cost-effective.
We're an aerospace & space logistics company building from first principles. At this stage, every person we bring onto the team has a meaningful impact on the technical direction, engineering culture, and future of the company.
We're looking for a Founding Propulsion Engineer to take ownership of one of the most critical parts of the Orbit Keeper architecture: how the vehicle moves through space.
About the Role
As the Founding Propulsion Engineer, you'll work directly with the Founder and our Space Systems Engineering team to develop the propulsion architecture for Orbit Keeper.
This is an early, high-ownership engineering role. You'll help answer fundamental questions about the vehicle's maneuvering capabilities, including its Δv requirements, propulsion architecture, propellant budget, thrust requirements, mass allocation, power consumption, and operational constraints.
You'll work across the full propulsion development lifecycle — from mission analysis and architecture trades through subsystem definition, component selection, integration, testing, and eventually flight hardware.
You won't be joining an established propulsion department with predefined requirements and mature hardware.
You'll help define what that department becomes.
This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys working from first principles, is comfortable with incomplete information, and wants significant ownership over a spacecraft propulsion subsystem from its earliest stages.
What You'll Own
Propulsion Architecture & Mission Analysis
- Own the development and maintenance of Orbit Keeper's propulsion architecture.
- Develop and maintain mission-level Δv budgets across relevant mission profiles.
- Translate mission requirements into propulsion subsystem requirements.
- Analyze maneuver requirements including orbital transfer, rendezvous, proximity operations, relocation, and other post-launch service scenarios.
- Establish propulsion performance requirements including thrust, specific impulse, total impulse, propellant mass, burn duration, duty cycle, and operational constraints.
- Perform propulsion architecture trade studies across applicable technologies and system configurations.
- Evaluate propulsion architectures against vehicle-level constraints including mass, volume, power, thermal environment, cost, reliability, and mission lifetime.
- Identify key technical risks, assumptions, and technology gaps within the propulsion subsystem.
- Work with the Space Systems Engineering team to maintain consistency between propulsion requirements and the overall vehicle architecture.
Propulsion System Design & Sizing
- Perform preliminary propulsion system sizing and analysis.
- Develop propellant mass budgets and propulsion mass allocations.
- Evaluate thruster configuration, tankage, feed systems, valves, regulators, lines, sensors, and other relevant subsystem components.
- Analyze propulsion subsystem interfaces with structures, thermal, avionics, power, flight software, GNC, and other spacecraft systems.
- Support spacecraft configuration studies including center-of-mass considerations, plume effects, component placement, and mechanical accommodation.
- Develop preliminary propulsion subsystem layouts and architecture concepts.
- Establish engineering models and analysis tools to support propulsion design decisions.
- Use Python, MATLAB, or comparable engineering tools for analysis, modeling, simulation, and data reduction.
Component & Vendor Evaluation
- Identify and evaluate propulsion components, COTS solutions, vendors, and potential development partners.
- Perform technical comparisons of available propulsion technologies and components.
- Communicate technical requirements to external suppliers and propulsion vendors.
- Review vendor specifications, analyses, test data, qualification information, and technical documentation.
- Identify opportunities to leverage existing flight-proven or commercially available technologies where appropriate.
- Support procurement and technical evaluation of propulsion hardware as the program progresses.
Integration, Testing & Hardware Development
- Define propulsion subsystem verification and validation requirements.
- Develop preliminary development, qualification, acceptance, and integration test plans.
- Support propulsion component and subsystem testing.
- Develop test procedures, instrumentation requirements, and data-analysis methods.
- Participate directly in hardware development, integration, troubleshooting, and test activities as the program transitions toward physical development.
- Work with manufacturing and external suppliers to improve designs for manufacturability, integration, reliability, and cost.
- Help establish the propulsion development and test infrastructure required for Orbit Keeper.
- Document test results, lessons learned, design changes, and engineering decisions.
Systems Engineering & Cross-Functional Integration
- Work closely with the Founding Space Systems Engineer to integrate propulsion into the broader spacecraft architecture.
- Collaborate with GNC engineers on maneuver requirements, control authority, thrust profiles, and propulsion operating modes.
- Work with mechanical and structures engineers on tanks, mounting, load paths, vibration, and component accommodation.
- Work with avionics and electrical engineers on sensors, valves, actuators, power requirements, and telemetry.
- Work with thermal engineers on heat rejection, thermal environments, and propulsion-related thermal constraints.
- Participate in system-level design reviews and architecture decisions.
- Maintain clear technical documentation, assumptions, requirements, analyses, and interface definitions.
- Communicate complex propulsion concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical members of the team.
What You'll Do in Your First 90 Days
Your initial focus will be establishing the technical foundation for Orbit Keeper's propulsion subsystem.
You may be responsible for:
- Reviewing the current Orbit Keeper mission architecture and propulsion assumptions.
- Establishing a structured mission Δv budget across priority mission profiles.
- Building preliminary propulsion mass, propellant, power, and performance budgets.
- Identifying the major propulsion architecture options applicable to Orbit Keeper.
- Conducting an initial propulsion trade study and documenting the underlying assumptions.
- Defining preliminary propulsion subsystem requirements and key interfaces.
- Identifying major technical risks and unknowns that need to be resolved.
- Evaluating relevant propulsion technologies, components, vendors, and development pathways.
- Establishing an initial propulsion development and testing roadmap.
- Building or improving internal analysis tools for mission and propulsion modeling.
- Working with the Space Systems Engineering team to close major vehicle-level architecture questions.
- Presenting your findings and recommendations to the Founder & CEO and engineering team.
By the end of this period, we want the team to have a significantly clearer understanding of how Orbit Keeper moves, what the propulsion subsystem needs to accomplish, what it will require from the rest of the spacecraft, and what needs to be built or tested next.
What We're Looking For
We're looking for someone who is:
- Highly analytical and comfortable solving problems from first principles.
- Comfortable working with spacecraft propulsion, orbital mechanics, and vehicle-level performance requirements.
- Able to move between high-level architecture and detailed engineering analysis.
- Comfortable making engineering decisions with incomplete information.
- Strong at identifying assumptions and understanding how they affect system-level conclusions.
- Naturally curious and willing to challenge existing assumptions.
- Comfortable taking ownership of a subsystem rather than waiting for detailed instructions.
- Able to communicate technical decisions clearly and defend them with engineering reasoning.
- Comfortable working across multiple engineering disciplines.
- Excited by the opportunity to build something from the earliest stages rather than joining an established program.
- Willing to get hands-on when the program transitions from analysis into hardware development and testing.
Most importantly, we're looking for someone who doesn't simply know propulsion — we're looking for someone who can own propulsion.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, astronautical engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
- 2+ years of relevant professional, research, or project experience in spacecraft propulsion, aerospace propulsion, fluid systems, orbital systems, or a closely related field.
- Demonstrated understanding of spacecraft propulsion fundamentals, including Δv, thrust, specific impulse, propellant mass, and propulsion system sizing.
- Experience performing engineering analysis, modeling, simulation, or trade studies.
- Experience working with at least one engineering analysis environment such as Python, MATLAB, Simulink, or a comparable tool.
- Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals in areas such as fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, or orbital mechanics.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work independently and take ownership of technically ambiguous problems.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience developing or operating spacecraft propulsion systems.
- Experience with chemical, electric, cold-gas, green monopropellant, or other spacecraft propulsion technologies.
- Experience developing spacecraft Δv and propellant budgets.
- Experience with orbital mechanics, mission analysis, or trajectory simulation.
- Experience with propulsion component sizing and selection.
- Experience with tanks, pressurized systems, fluid systems, valves, regulators, feed systems, or related hardware.
- Experience designing, building, integrating, or testing aerospace hardware.
- Experience working with propulsion vendors or external manufacturing partners.
- Experience with CAD and mechanical design.
- Experience with spacecraft GNC interfaces.
- Experience developing engineering tools in Python or MATLAB.
- Experience taking hardware from concept through prototype or test.
- Familiarity with aerospace engineering standards, verification processes, and technical documentation.
- Experience working at an early-stage aerospace, space, robotics, or other hard-tech startup.
- Master's degree or higher in aerospace, astronautical, mechanical engineering, or a related discipline.
What This Role Is Not
This is not a role where you'll simply receive a mature propulsion architecture and optimize an existing subsystem.
You will not be expected to spend your time exclusively on:
- Running predefined analyses.
- Maintaining someone else's propulsion models.
- Performing CAD work without system-level ownership.
- Selecting components without understanding the mission requirements behind them.
- Working within a large engineering organization with narrowly defined responsibilities.
We're looking for someone who can define the problem, build the analysis, evaluate the options, make recommendations, and drive the engineering work forward.
As Graviron progresses, the role will become increasingly hands-on and hardware-focused. The engineer joining at this stage will have the opportunity to help shape the propulsion team, development processes, laboratories, test infrastructure, and future engineering organization.
Why Join Graviron?
As one of Graviron's earliest engineering team members, you'll have the opportunity to:
- Own the propulsion architecture of a reusable orbital vehicle from an early stage.
- Work directly with the Founder & CEO and Space Systems Engineering team.
- Help determine fundamental design decisions before the architecture is locked in.
- Work across mission analysis, spacecraft systems, propulsion, testing, and hardware development.
- Build engineering processes and infrastructure from the ground up.
- Have significant technical ownership and influence over the product.
- Help establish the foundation for Graviron's future propulsion organization.
- Grow into a technical leadership role as the company scales.
- Help build infrastructure for a future where space logistics becomes a scalable service.
This is an opportunity to join before the propulsion architecture is finalized, not after.
Annual Base Salary
USD $120,000 – $160,000 per year
The final salary within this range will be determined based on relevant experience, demonstrated technical capabilities, previous accomplishments, expected level of ownership, and overall fit for the role.
This compensation range is intended for the salaried version of the position and may be revised as the company grows.
Compensation Structure
Current Compensation: This role is currently offered on an equity-first basis while Graviron is completing its Pre-Seed financing. Candidates joining during this phase will receive the equity compensation described below.
Transition to Salary: Upon the successful close of Graviron's Pre-Seed financing, this role is intended to transition to a full-time salaried position, with the applicable annual base salary range stated above.
The transition to salary will be implemented as part of the company's post-financing employment structure and reflected in the formal employment documentation provided at that time.
Equity & Benefits
As an early member of Graviron's engineering team, you'll receive meaningful ownership in the company through Graviron's Equity Incentive Plan.
Equity
- Stock Options: 0.75% – 1.50%
- Standard 4-year vesting
- 1-year cliff
- Monthly vesting thereafter
The final equity grant will be determined based on experience, technical depth, seniority, expected contribution, and the level of ownership associated with the role.
Benefits
Eligible team members may receive:
- Health Insurance
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Flexible Working Arrangements
- Company Equipment
- Professional Development Support
- Conference & Training Opportunities
- Opportunity to grow into technical leadership as Graviron scales
Benefits and employment terms may evolve as Graviron completes its financing and establishes its long-term operating structure.
Hiring Process
- Application Review
- Initial Conversation
- Technical & Founding Team Interview
- Technical Exercise / Architecture Discussion
- Offer
The interview process is designed to evaluate both technical capability and how you approach ambiguous engineering problems. We care about your reasoning, assumptions, engineering judgment, and ability to take ownership — not simply whether you can produce the "right" answer.
Equal Opportunity
Graviron Aerospace is committed to building an inclusive team where exceptional people from diverse backgrounds can do their best work. We evaluate candidates based on their skills, experience, capabilities, and potential, and provide equal employment opportunities without discrimination.
Export Control & Work Authorization
Certain Graviron projects, technologies, technical data, or future programs may be subject to U.S. export-control requirements, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Eligibility to access particular technologies or technical data will be determined in accordance with applicable law and the requirements of the specific program.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States or otherwise be eligible for employment under the applicable requirements for this position.
Hiring Team,
Graviron Aerospace, Inc.
