VP of Engineering

Denver, CO | Full Time | Executive Level

The Mission

Space is the infrastructure layer for humanity’s next industrial revolution. While reusable rockets have opened the door, true economic transformation requires infrastructure that makes orbit as accessible and reliable as air travel. At Lux Aeterna, we’re building that future by developing the first reusable satellite platform with controlled return capability - transforming space from a one-way street into a two-way highway for innovation and commerce.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a VP of Engineering to scale the team and the systems that get our spacecraft built, tested, and flown. We've proven we can move fast as a small team. Your job is to make sure we stay fast as we grow. That means hiring exceptional engineers, building the processes that keep a hardware program honest, and owning execution across every subsystem from design review through integration and flight.

This is a unique opportunity to:

• Real Impact: Build the engineering organization behind the first fleet of reusable satellites, enabling new industries and markets in space.
• Speed & Autonomy: We maintain parallel hardware development streams and empower engineers to innovate rapidly while upholding rigorous aerospace standars.
• World-Class Team: Work alongside experts from leading aerospace companies and research institutions, building technology that will reshape humanity's access to space.

What You'll Do

You are the single accountable owner for whether Lux Aeterna's engineering organization can keep building, testing, and flying hardware as fast as the mission demands - and for making sure that stays true as the team multiplies. You'll start close to the work already underway, and build the org, cadence, and judgment calls that let a small, trusted team become a much larger one without losing what makes it fast.

• Lead the engineering organization day to day: structure, hiring plans, performance, and growth across all subsystem teams
• Recruit and close senior engineering talent, and build the pipeline and interview process that keeps the bar high as headcount grows
• Own engineering execution: schedules, design reviews, BOM releases, test campaigns, and integration milestones
• Build lightweight processes that create rigor without bureaucracy: requirements management, configuration control, anomaly resolution, and design review cadence
• Manage vendor and supplier relationships alongside program management, and hold suppliers accountable to delivery
• Partner with program management to surface risk early and keep schedule reality visible to leadership
• Set the tone for engineering culture: intellectual honesty, bias for action, and candid communication

What We're Looking For 

• 10+ years in spacecraft, launch vehicle, or complex aerospace hardware development, with 5+ years leading engineering teams
• Experience scaling an engineering organization through rapid growth, ideally from tens to over a hundred engineers
• Successful track record of taking hardware from design through qualification, integration, and flight
• Deep familiarity with the full spacecraft development lifecycle: structures, avionics, propulsion, thermal, GNC, and software
• Experience building engineering processes at a startup or fast-moving program, and knowing which big-company processes to steal and which to leave behind
• Strong supplier management instincts in a constrained aerospace supply chain
• Direct, low-ego communication style

Location & Work

We are based in Denver, CO and believe in the power of in-person collaboration. We are onsite 5 days/week by default, but flexible when life requires it. 

Certain roles may involve access to export-controlled technical data. To comply with U.S. export-control laws, access may be limited to individuals who qualify as a “U.S. person” under 22 C.F.R. §120.62 or who otherwise may lawfully receive such access.

Compensation & Benefits

The anticipated compensation range for this position is $200k-$350k per year plus meaningful equity. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, skills, and job-related responsibilities.

Lux Aeterna offers a benefits package of medical, dental, and vision insurance; paid time off and company holidays; and a 401(k) retirement plan.

Certain roles may involve access to export-controlled technical data. To comply with U.S. export-control laws, access may be limited to individuals who qualify as a “U.S. person” under 22 C.F.R. §120.62 or who otherwise may lawfully receive such access.