Engineering

Automation & Controls Engineer

K2 Space Los Angeles🇺🇸United States

Why this role stands out

This hybrid role offers a competitive salary of $100,000 - $140,000 and the chance to significantly impact groundbreaking satellite technology at a well-funded, rapidly growing company. You'll thrive here if you are a motivated mid-senior engineer eager to develop cutting-edge automation solutions and contribute to K2 Space's vision of building the future of space exploration.

Quick overview

Salary$100k - $140k/yr

SeniorityMid Senior

Work modeHybrid

LocationLos Angeles, United States

RoboticsCAD

Job description

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.

The Role

You’ll be at the heart of bringing the production system to life. K2 has a strong push to vertically integrate our production system, which means you’ll work side-by-side with the production and engineering team to concept, develop, and roll out various automation projects to support this vision.

This role is built for someone who learns quickly, thrives in a fast-paced environment, and wants to take ownership early. You’ll develop deep technical intuition, contribute to systems that scale, and grow into increasingly complex challenges as we push towards higher-rate production in an environment unlike anywhere else.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and production engineers to ensure seamless production automation across hardware and control layers

Design and develop production tooling electromechanical automation assemblies either in-house or through vendors

Own hands-on buildout, activation, and qualification of automation and controls projects across the production line spanning machine design, robotics, computer vision, and other systems

Implement our HMI strategy and PLC automation in a way that makes machines easy to operate with repeatable results

Understand build flow, production reliability, and process control to implement strategies to increase production takt rate and first pass yield

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, manufacturing, aerospace, materials or other relevant engineering discipline

2+ years of experience in a high-volume manufacturing, production, or hands-on engineering environment

Strong hands-on aptitude and willingness to work directly with hardware on the production floor

Exposure to precision assembly or electromechanical integration processes

Ability to read engineering drawings, schematics, and technical documentation

Experience setting up a manufacturing/production floor for first article builds

Nice to Have

Hands-on experience with industrial automation hardware & controls, PLC/HMI/Robotics software control stacks, electrical and fluid schematics

Exposure to space, defense, or other high-reliability manufacturing environments

Experience designing automation systems for manufacturability

Demonstrated experience developing production processes from the ground up including driving design improvements for manufacturing

Experience working closely with technicians and build tooling

Familiarity with CAD software (NX or equivalent) and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)

Compensation and Benefits:

Base salary range for this role is $100,000 – $140,000 + equity in the company

Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level

Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision/ coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

Export Compliance

As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.

Equal Opportunity

K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.