---
title: 'Lead Composites Technician, Airframe Manufacturing at Astro Mechanica'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-composites-technician-airframe-manufacturing-astro-mechanica-san-francisco-j5qgdpm77zan'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Lead Composites Technician, Airframe Manufacturing at Astro Mechanica

- **Company:** Astro Mechanica
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $115k–$150k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-08-26
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/astro-mechanica/fd7c76d8-0b42-480c-ba4c-d90ee10d23b3

## Job description

## ABOUT US:

Astro Mechanica is a vertically integrated aerospace company developing a scalable technology platform to power critical infrastructure, mission operations, and the future of flight. We apply aerospace engineering and quality standards across our products, delivering high performance, reliability, and efficiency for the most demanding operating environments. Astro Mechanica is backed by leading venture and strategic investors, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Giant Step Capital, United Airlines Ventures, and Voyager Ventures.

## WHO WE ARE:

We’re a team of passionate engineers dedicated to advancing aerospace. We’re generalists with specialist depth, united by a flat structure and a shared obsession with building things that work well. We move fast, stay pragmatic, and let engineering excellence speak louder than hierarchy.

## WHO YOU ARE:

You are an experienced composites technician that is excited by the challenge of establishing new processes, growing a highly capable team, and standing up a manufacturing line. You are well versed in a variety of composites manufacturing methods from either aerospace, marine or advanced automotive industries and can quickly and effectively identify which processes and techniques will yield the best results. You are comfortable providing design for manufacturing feedback to engineers and all technical partners. The ideal person for this role will help write the composites manufacturing playbook, not just follow it.

## WHAT YOU’LL DO:

- Lead Astro Mechanica's composite technicians day to day on the floor, setting the standard for workmanship and holding the team to it
- Help build the team: interview candidates, onboard and train new technicians, develop a skills matrix, and grow people into harder work
- Help stand up Astro Mechanica's airframe manufacturing operation from scratch, including facilities, workflows, tooling concepts, equipment and consumables needs, with a focus on both rapid implementation and future scalability
- Run the daily build: sequence the work, assign the crew, track progress against milestones, and raise blockers before they cost schedule
- Perform and supervise layup, bagging, infusion, cure, bonding, trimming, drilling, and assembly of airframe structure
- Own the condition of molds, layup tools, and assembly fixtures in the shop, and coordinate repair or replacement with the tool design team
- Work shoulder to shoulder with the Airframe Manufacturing Engineers and Airframe Design Engineers to turn build plans into process that actually runs on the floor
- Feed engineering real build data: what is slow, what is fragile, and what the drawing does not account for
- Establish and improve shop practice around material handling, out-time control, kitting, cleanliness, consumables, and cure records
- Check your team's work in process and at completion, document non-conformances honestly, and help find and fix the cause
- Own safety and housekeeping in the composite shop, including PPE and respirator discipline, chemical handling and storage, and hazard reporting
- Support first article builds and help define what good looks like on parts nobody has made before
- Train the team as new processes and materials come in, and write the documentation that makes those processes repeatable
- Help scale the shop as build rate grows, with a view on headcount, equipment, and floor layout

## WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

- 10+ years of hands-on composite fabrication in aerospace, defense, marine, motorsports, or another high-performance build environment, with at least 2 of those years directing the work of other technicians
- A track record of building a hands-on crew: interviewing, onboarding, training, setting the workmanship bar, and holding people to it
- Deep personal command of prepreg and wet layup, vacuum bagging, resin infusion, oven and autoclave cure, and secondary bonding
- Practical experience with core materials including honeycomb, foam, and syntactic, covering splicing, potting, and core-to-skin bond quality
- Strong trimming, drilling, sanding, fairing, and fitting skills, plus the judgment to tell when a surface or edge is genuinely good enough
- Experience joining composite detail parts into larger structure: bond prep, adhesive bonding, shimming, and fastener installation
- Comfort working alongside metallic detail parts, weldments, and machined fittings, including composite-to-metal joints
- Care and keeping of molds, layup tools, and assembly fixtures, including prep, release systems, minor repair, and knowing when a tool is no longer fit to build on
- Ability to work directly from engineering drawings, ply books, CAD models, and evolving build definitions
- Ability to write and improve work instructions that a new technician can actually follow
- Experience running builds to a schedule: sequencing the work, staffing it, flagging risk early, and keeping a crew productive
- Ownership of quality at the source, including in-process checks, first article support, and honest records of what was actually built
- Demonstrated experience and strong desire to work closely with engineering on the shop floor, including the confidence to say when a design cannot be built as drawn
- Physically able to do the work: full shifts on your feet, lifting, respirator use, and moving in and around large structures
- Experience standing up a composite shop or a new build cell from scratch, including equipment, consumables, layout, and process
- Time spent in a development or prototype shop where the build definition changed week to week

## PERKS & BENEFITS:

- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
- 401(k) program and transparent stock option plan
- Self-managed and flexible time-off policy, including PTO, paid holidays, and sick time
- Flexible work environment

## ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

At Astro Mechanica, we highly value in-office work to foster collaboration and strengthen our company culture. We consider working in the office five days a week an essential part of the employee's role. Astro Mechanica is an equal opportunity employer. We proudly recruit and hire a diverse workforce and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

## About Astro Mechanica

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Astro Mechanica is building the world’s first turboelectric adaptive jet engine (Duality) that achieves high efficiency across both subsonic and supersonic speeds, aiming to democratize high-speed flight.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Venture-backed; latest round: Series A-II / Venture Round in September 2025)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Ian Brooke (CEO & Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Aerospace, aviation propulsion, defense systems
- **Target customers**: US government (military and defense applications), commercial aviation (long-term), cargo/logistics
- **Mission/purpose**: “Democratize high-speed flight by making supersonic travel flexible, accessible, and sustainable” – developing rapid, on-demand, point-to-point global mobility.

## Products & Services
- **Duality™ Propulsion System**: A proprietary dual-use turboelectric adaptive jet engine designed to be efficient at all speeds from subsonic to supersonic. Currently in development and expected to begin altitude testing in 2027 on a dedicated testbed aircraft.
- **Airframe & Flight Systems**: Vertically integrated design of airframes and flight control systems optimized for the Duality engine, with near-term focus on government contracts.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – **$54.7 million** as of the latest venture round in September 2025 (LinkedIn data; earlier reports by CBInsights indicated $27.6 million, likely reflecting a prior round)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: United Airlines Ventures (lead investor in latest round), Andreessen Horowitz, Giant Step Capital, Y Combinator (seed)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew **228.6% year-over-year** to ~35 employees; **36 active job postings** as of mid-2025; rapid hiring across engineering, manufacturing, and leadership roles; moving toward engine flight test in 2027.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Unique engine architecture**: The turboelectric adaptive design allows a single engine to operate efficiently from subsonic to supersonic regimes, removing the need for afterburners or separate engines.
- **Vertical integration**: In-house engine, airframe, and flight systems development enables tight optimization and rapid iteration.
- **Flat engineering culture**: Described as “generalists with specialist depth” and a flat structure that accelerates decision-making and innovation.

## Strategic Focus
- **Near-term**: Engine altitude testing (scheduled for 2027) and securing US government contracts for high-speed systems.
- **Long-term**: Develop a full aircraft platform and operational model for economically viable supersonic commercial travel.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Emphasis on engineering excellence, pragmatism, and moving fast. Flat hierarchy where “engineering speaks louder than hierarchy.”
- **Work policy**: Hybrid environment – most roles are based in San Francisco with a mix of in-office and remote collaboration. The majority of job listings specify “In-Office” at the HQ.
- **Notable perks**: Not explicitly listed, but the company offers equity (typical for startups) and the opportunity to work on groundbreaking aerospace technology from concept to flight.
- **Engineering focus**: Strong technical team with talent from SpaceX, Relativity Space, Boom Supersonic, Lockheed Martin, and Astra. Active hiring in propulsion, flight software, GNC, test engineering, and manufacturing.

## Sources
1. [astromecha.co](https://www.astromecha.co/)
2. [astromecha.co/careers](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/astro-mechanica)
3. [linkedin.com/company/astro-mechanica](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astro-mechanica)
4. [cbinsights.com/company/astro-mechanica](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/astro-mechanica)
5. [builtin.com/company/astro-mechanica](https://builtin.com/company/astro-mechanica)

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