Astrolab

Designs modular lunar rovers for exploration

Design Reliability Engineering Manager

Engineering LeadershipUpdated on Nov 13

Full-timeHawthorne, CA, USA$175k - $220k /yrHybrid

About the Job

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM)-related field is required.
At least 5 years of experience in reliability, design assurance, or systems engineering for spaceflight, aerospace, or other high-consequence hardware, including defense, nuclear, or medical devices.
At least 2 years of experience in a people-management or team-lead role.

Responsibilities

Lead reliability engineering end-to-end and define and own the reliability program across avionics, mechanisms, power, thermal, and structures for current and future rover programs.
Build and manage a team of reliability and design assurance engineers, setting hiring priorities, technical standards, and growth paths as the company scales.
Architect the company's design standards and test methodologies.
Champion the design process and set design criteria, requirements, and verification approaches for new hardware.
Own change and risk reviews, translating technical risk and impact into decisions the team can act on.
Translate technical risk into clear, confident decisions for the organization.
Build processes that ensure designs meet standards, reviews are comprehensive, changes are implemented, and risks are mitigated.
Flow reliability requirements down to hardware, including margins, screening levels, and derating guidelines.
Develop specialized analysis tools, review templates, reliability checklists, and design guides.
Mentor engineers on reliability methods and analysis techniques.
Capture lessons learned and drive continuous improvements to strengthen standards and processes.

Desired Qualifications

Experience with failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA/FMECA), fault tree analysis, reliability prediction using MIL-HDBK-217 or physics-of-failure methods, and worst-case analysis.
Experience with extreme thermal cycling, vacuum outgassing, radiation effects (SEU/SEL/TID), regolith and dust contamination, and launch and landing shock and vibration loads that affect lunar hardware.
Experience designing, integrating, testing, or operating space vehicles or other large, complex systems.
Experience establishing a reliability function at a growth-stage company.
Experience creating engineering standards, review templates, or technical guidance frameworks.
Experience with manufacturing processes, materials selection, and hardware qualification pathways.
Experience with fracture control, human-rated hardware standards, or similar reliability frameworks.

Astrolab is The Lunar Operations Company. We design and build the systems and hardware the lunar economy will come to depend on — rovers, power, and data networks for sustained operations on the Moon. We are focused on the problems that must be solved before the next chapter of human exploration can scale. The Moon does not forgive untested assumptions. The people who work here know that, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

CLV-1 is the first human-capable lunar rover since 1972. It will carry Artemis IV astronauts across the lunar South Pole, one of the harshest environments humans have ever worked in. There is no service center. It must work. As the Design Reliability Engineering Manager, you will ensure CLV-1's systems survive the mission. You will work across disciplines to build reliability into the design itself, identifying and mitigating failures before they arise.

Lead reliability engineering end-to-end: define and own the reliability program across avionics, mechanisms, power, thermal, and structures for current and future rover programs
Build and manage a team of reliability and design assurance engineers, setting hiring priorities, technical standards, and growth paths as the company scales
Architect Astrolab's design standards and test methodologies
Champion the Astrolab design process and set design criteria, requirements, and verification approaches for new hardware
Own change and risk reviews, translating technical risk and impact into decisions the team can act on
Become the person the organization trusts to translate technical risk into clear, confident decisions
Build the processes that ensure designs meet standards, reviews are comprehensive, changes are implemented, and risks are mitigated
Flow reliability requirements down to hardware: margins, screening levels, derating guidelines
Develop specialized analysis tools, review templates, reliability checklists, and design guides
Mentor engineers on reliability methods and analysis techniques
Capture lessons learned and drive continuous improvements to strengthen standards and processes

Basic Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in a science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) related field
5+ years in reliability, design assurance, or systems engineering for spaceflight, aerospace, or other high-consequence hardware (defense, nuclear, medical devices considered)
2+ years in a people-management or team-lead role

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with FMEA/FMECA, fault tree analysis, reliability prediction (MIL-HDBK-217 or physics-of-failure methods), and worst-case analysis.
Experience with the environments that break lunar hardware: extreme thermal cycling, vacuum outgassing, radiation (SEU/SEL/TID), regolith/dust contamination, and launch/landing shock and vibration loads.
Experience designing, integrating, testing, or operating space vehicles or other large, complex systems
Experience standing up a reliability function at a growth-stage company.
Experience creating engineering standards, review templates, or technical guidance frameworks
Experience with manufacturing processes, materials selection, and hardware qualification pathways
Experience with fracture control, human-rated hardware standards, or similar reliability frameworks

About the Company

Astrolab

Designs modular lunar rovers for exploration

Astrolab designs and builds modular rovers for lunar and extraterrestrial surface missions. Its flagship FLEX rover is a modular, reusable vehicle that can transport cargo, equipment, and crew across the Moon. The system works by using interchangeable payload modules on a shared rover chassis, allowing rapid reconfiguration for different mission profiles—from cargo delivery to astronaut transport—without needing a new vehicle. The rover is designed to be compatible with existing and planned space infrastructure, including NASA’s Artemis program, enabling integration with governmental and commercial lunar operations. What sets Astrolab apart is its emphasis on a single, adaptable platform with modular payloads that can handle a range of tasks and mission profiles, rather than many specialized, single-use machines. The company aims to enable a sustained lunar presence and expanded human activity beyond Earth by providing reliable, flexible surface mobility.

Company size: 51-200
Company stage: Not listed
Total funding: Not listed
Headquarters: Hawthorne, CA
Founded: 2019

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