The Company
Astra's mission is to improve life on Earth from space by creating a healthier and more connected planet. Astra delivered its first commercial payload into Earth orbit in 2021, making it the fastest company in history to reach this milestone, just five years after being founded in 2016. By achieving monthly, weekly, then daily launches, we'll create the infrastructure services our customers need in space to build a healthier and more connected planet. If you're excited by a sense of possibility, the chance to innovate, and make a difference here on Earth, we think you should work here too.
The Team
Astra aims to make Daily Space Delivery possible by being the first company to mass-produce orbital class launch vehicles. This necessitates a unique reliability approach that blends lessons from the automotive and aerospace industries. The Mission Assurance team executes on this vision by driving the highest level of quality in Astra's design & analysis, supply chain, component manufacture, assembly processes, and test & launch procedures. Our north star is ensuring a successful mission for every one of our customers.
The Opportunity
As a Senior Reliability Engineer, you will partner with leaders across Astra's engineering and test organizations to ensure we are designing a reliable rocket for our customers. You will be intimately involved in the design of our launch vehicle from the very beginning, and you will help define qualification and acceptance test plans for a diverse range of critical hardware, ensuring that our rocket is ready for launch by the time it reaches the launch pad.
As a testing and analysis whiz, you will be relied upon to help us anticipate risks in the very earliest stages of the launch vehicle design process. You'll use your reliability skillset to analyze gaps in our existing processes and determine how we can best fill those gaps.
You will be part of the initial team that defines how we "do" reliability engineering at Astra, evaluating important trades that weigh improved reliability, development timelines, and cost. You will bring a data-driven perspective to critical questions that will shape the future of the business.
How You'll Fulfill Your Mission

• Excellence: serve as the champion for reliability in design and testing environments; help us develop engineering, qualification, and acceptance testing best practices for use throughout the company.
• Analyze: perform system reliability analyses that help us pinpoint the most likely points of failure on our vehicle, and then help determine how best to fix our weakest links.
• Test: develop qualification, acceptance (ATP), and ongoing reliability (ORT) test plans that ensure that each vehicle that reaches the launch pad has the best chance of delivering a successful mission for our customers.
• Question: use your confidence and technical competency to tactfully push back on your peers and company leaders; ensure we are always asking the right questions and are making data-driven decisions that position mission assurance as a top priority.
• Strategize: help us transition from development to full-rate production by establishing reliability processes and quality documentation that will result in the highest success rate for our vehicles. Re-think how we do engineering requirements, verifications, qualification testing, acceptance testing, and more.

Why We Value You

• You partner seamlessly with other engineering and test personnel
• You are eager to jump in & learn how we test and fly our rocket, and bring skills and knowledge that will help us do it better
• You help us anticipate issues that haven't occurred yet, using frameworks such as system reliability analysis and Failure Mode & Effects Analysis (FMEA)
• You have experience planning and/or performing tests on complex hardware
• You have experience with engineering requirements and verifications
• You have strong critical-thinking skills combined with the ability to break down complex technical problems into their digestible component parts
• You have an attention to detail and a passion for being complete, thorough, and comprehensive
• You have the professional self-esteem and confidence to "push back" on peers and executives when necessary
• You are an energetic individual with excellent communication skills (written and oral) and can distill complex concepts to a lay-person

Desired Multipliers

• 4+ years of experience as a design, systems, and/or reliability engineer
• Previous experience in an industry with stringent reliability requirements (automotive, aerospace, medical, etc.)
• Previous experience with high-performance metallic structures, fluid systems, electronic assemblies, and/or control software
• Previous experience with launch vehicles or spacecraft

ITAR Requirements: This position requires compliance with U.S. Government space technology trade restrictions, specifically the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and additional regulations governing satellite, launch vehicle, missile, and other related technologies. All jobs restricted by these regulations will be contingent upon the applicant's status as a documented U.S. Person or their ability to receive a trade license from the cognizant government agency; in addition to any required company background checks and in compliance with applicable U.S. and California laws. Similarly, positions requiring the ability to work on government contracts or a security clearance are also contingent upon the applicants ability to receive the appropriate clearance and be allowed to work on U.S. government contracts.
You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Astra, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.
San Francisco Applicants: Astra will consider applicants with arrest and conviction records (criminal histories) in a manner consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.