Chief Engineer, Space Missions

Where dreams and reality collide and the output is out of this world. At Redwire Space, we are a team of dreamers and doers. Where the impossible becomes possible, and every day is an opportunity to learn and get one step closer to knowing the unknown. Join us on our mission to expand humanity's presence in space.

Through continuous innovation and operational excellence, our Space Missions team leverages engineering talent and capabilities to develop and deliver spacecraft and space products at speed and scale to our customers. These cutting‑edge capabilities are helping to revolutionize spaceflight and the space defense mission space. With many exciting projects on the horizon, our team could use your curiosity, passion, talent and experience to help us Build Above.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Chief Engineer, Space Missions located at our facility in Littleton, CO. In this role you will serve as the senior technical authority responsible for ensuring technical excellence, systems integrity, and mission success across the Space Missions portfolio of programs. You'll operate across multiple programs, allocating time to the highest‑risk and most technically complex challenges, providing deep technical leadership, and serving as a unifying technical fabric across the Space Missions Engineering organization.

The Chief Engineer is accountable for embedding systems thinking, enforcing disciplined engineering practices, and elevating technical rigor across the full product lifecycle—from concept through flight operations. This role partners closely with Program and Engineering leadership to resolve hard technical problems, adjudicate technical trade‑offs, and ensure mission success.

• Serve as the senior technical authority across the Space Missions portfolio, ensuring technical integrity, rigor, and mission assurance.
• Allocate time across programs to address the most complex, high‑risk technical challenges, providing hands‑on technical leadership and independent technical judgment.
• Drive systems thinking throughout the full spacecraft lifecycle, ensuring cohesive architecture, requirements flow down, interfaces, and verification closure.
• Lead and participate in independent technical reviews, gate reviews, readiness assessments, anomaly and failure resolution efforts, and design decisions, bringing cross‑program insight and historical context.
• Establish and uphold engineering principles, standards, and best practices across spacecraft, products, and disciplines.
• Mentor and coach technical leaders and Responsible Engineers.
• Provide technical oversight during proposal development, architecture definition, and early mission concept studies.
• Act as a trusted technical interface to customers, partners, and internal executives.

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• 20+ years of experience in spacecraft or complex aerospace system development.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a Chief Engineer, Lead Systems Engineer, or equivalent senior technical authority.
• Deep understanding of full spacecraft system architecture including mission design, avionics, power, GNC, software, structures, thermal, and integration & test.
• Proven ability to solve complex, cross‑disciplinary technical problems and adjudicate difficult engineering trade‑offs.
• Experience leading technical execution through SRR, PDR, CDR, qualification, launch readiness, and on‑orbit operations.
• Eligible for a U.S. security clearance.

• Master's degree or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• Experience working across a spacecraft full program lifecycle.
• Experience operating in a matrixed engineering organization with multiple concurrent spacecraft programs.
• Background supporting government space customers (NASA, Space Force, SDA, DARPA) and/or prime contractors.
• Experience leading or participating in independent review teams, red teams, or mission assurance boards.
• Strong command of systems engineering principles, requirements management, verification and validation, and…