---
title: 'Manufacturing CAD & Development Engineer at Loft Orbital Solutions'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-cad-development-engineer-loft-orbital-solutions-abu-dhabi-8nbzttt6vfd4'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Manufacturing CAD & Development Engineer at Loft Orbital Solutions

- **Company:** Loft Orbital Solutions
- **Location:** Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-06-18
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/loftorbital/385d531e-7f77-41fd-bc81-1071c3199ea7

## Job description

About this Role:

- Develop and sustain manufacturing processes supporting satellite assembly, integration, test (AIT), and launch activities.
- Design, analyze, release, and maintain manufacturing tooling, fixtures, and ground support equipment (GSE) using CAD tools.
- Review spacecraft designs and manufacturing methods to identify risks, constraints, and opportunities for Design for Excellence (DFX) improvements.
- Create, review, and maintain work instructions, standard operating procedures (SOPs), manufacturing documentation, and GSE operating manuals.
- Participate in manufacturing-readiness reviews and production-planning activities.
- Investigate manufacturing, tooling, and process-related issues and implement corrective actions.
- Collaborate with engineering, quality, supply chain, facilities, and production teams to improve operational efficiency and product quality.
- Support technician training through the development of manufacturing documentation and standardized processes.
- Identify and implement continuous improvement opportunities to increase production throughput, quality, safety, and scalability.
- Contribute to the development of cleanroom layouts, manufacturing workstations, and production equipment setups.
- Support the industrialization of spacecraft products and help establish manufacturing capabilities that enable production at scale.

Must Haves:

- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Experience designing tooling, fixtures, mechanical equipment, or manufacturing support hardware using CAD software.
- Proficiency with one or more CAD platforms such as SolidWorks, Creo, NX, CATIA, or AutoCAD.
- Understanding of manufacturing processes, machining methods, and material selection.
- Experience creating technical documentation, work instructions, manufacturing procedures, or operating instructions.
- Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to investigate manufacturing issues and drive corrective actions.
- Ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams across engineering, manufacturing, quality, and operations.
- Hands-on engineering mindset with a willingness to work directly with hardware and production systems.
- Strong ownership mentality and comfort operating in a fast-paced startup environment.
- Excellent written and verbal English communication skills.

Nice to Haves:

- Experience in aerospace, satellite, defense, automotive, robotics, or other high-reliability manufacturing environments.
- Experience supporting Assembly, Integration & Test (AIT) operations.
- Familiarity with aerospace and manufacturing standards such as NASA, ECSS, ISO, MIL, IPC, J-STD, or ESD requirements.
- Lean Manufacturing and/or Six Sigma experience.
- Experience with Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
- Experience with PFMEA, process validation, risk assessment, or manufacturing readiness reviews.
- Environmental testing experience, including vibration, thermal vacuum (TVAC), thermal cycling, or shock testing.
- Experience with automated manufacturing systems, robotics, or industrial automation.
- Knowledge of lifting operations, rigging, cranes, forklifts, or other manufacturing support equipment.
- Previous experience in a startup environment.
- Passion for space systems and spacecraft manufacturing.

Orbitworks' mission is to make space simple for organizations that want to deploy physical and virtual missions to space. Building on Loft Orbital's heritage, Orbitworks will be the first commercial firm in the United Arab Emirates to mass-manufacture satellites. Orbitworks aims to manufacture tens of satellites annually and operates out of a 50,000-square-foot facility in Abu Dhabi.

## About Loft Orbital Solutions

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Loft Orbital is a space infrastructure company that provides simple, fast, and reliable ways for customers to deploy and operate physical payloads and software missions in low Earth orbit.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series C – $170M round announced, total funding $326.9M)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States (with additional offices in Golden, Colorado and Toulouse, France)
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Not listed in provided sources

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing
- **Target Customers**: B2B – commercial space startups, established aerospace and defense primes, cloud and AI companies, and government agencies worldwide (including U..S, France, Canada)
- **Mission/Purpose**: “Space Made Simple” – enabling customers to focus on their mission while Loft handles end-to-end space infrastructure

## Products & Services
- **Physical Payload Missions**: Loft integrates, tests, launches, and operates customer hardware payloads on its standardized satellite platforms (e.g.., optical, hyperspectral, RF sensors).
- **Virtual / Software-Only Missions**: Customers can deploy software directly to Loft’s on-orbit satellites to process and analyze data in near-real time (e..g., AI edge processing via partners like SkyServe, SSCI).
- **YAM (Yet Another Mission)** satellites: A fleet of multi-mission satellite buses available for rapid deployment; Loft maintains an inventory of pre-assembled platforms.
- **Hub & Cockpit**: Proprietary hardware and software abstraction layers that simplify payload integration and satellite operations.
- **Loft Federal**: A FOCI-mitigated division focused on US national security space missions (only US citizens).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (total funding $326..9M – LinkedIn)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding $326..9M (8 rounds incl. $170M Series C); Annual Revenue estimated $27..8M (LinkedIn)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Lead seed investor Uncork Capital; partners include Honeywell (Canadian Space Agency mission), Wyvern (Dragonette constellation), Esper, Helsing, SmartSat CRC, EarthDaily ($150M constellation), SkyServe, SSCI, Airbus OneWeb Satellites (15 bus order).
- **Growth Signals**: 270 employees (+14.9% YoY), 41k+ LinkedIn followers (+41.4% YoY), 14 satellites launched, 60+ customers, 15+ AI missions on-orbit, selected as prime contractor for France’s first space-based radar imaging program.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Standardized Satellite Platform**: Uses a commodity satellite bus with custom hardware/software layers, eliminating non-recurring engineering and enabling “turnkey” plug-and-play.
- **Speed to Orbit**: Maintains an inventory of pre-assembled buses and pre-booked launches, drastically reducing lead times compared to traditional aerospace.
- **Flight Heritage**: Over 600 copies of the bus in orbit today, providing proven reliability
- **Misson Agnosticism**: Can fly any payload that fits within standard platform constraints; supports both physical and virtual missions.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expand AI Edge Computing**: Deploying onboard AI processing (e..g., STORM from SkyServe, POET experiment for SDA) to enable near-real-time decision making.
- **National Security Growth**: Loft Federal continues to win US government contracts.
- **Constellation Scale-Up**: Partnering with EarthDaily for $150M satellite constellation; ordering 15 additional buses from Airbus OneWeb.
- **International Partnerships**: Strengthening ties with France (prime contractor for radar imaging) and Canada (SmartSat CRC, Honeywell).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Collaborative, respectful, professional environment described as “non-negotiable.” Rated 4..5/5 on LinkedIn (35 reviews) with Culture 4.5, Compensation 4.1, Work-Life 3.6, Career 4.2.
- **Wor Environment**: Distributed team with core hubs in San Francisco, Golden (CO), and Toulouse. Supports remote collaboration but roles may require on-site presence (per job listings). Recruiting process involves intro call, technical screening, challenge, and hiring panel.
- **Notable Perks**: Opportunity to work on cutting-edge space infrastructure with a fast-growing company; involvement in both commercial and government missions; international team.

## Sources
1. [loftorbital..com](https://loftorbital.com/)
2. [loftorbital.com/about/](https://loftorbital.com/about/)
3. [loftorbital.com/careers/](https://loftorbital.com/careers/)
4. [jobs.lever.co/loftorbital](https://jobs.lever.co/loftorbital/)
5. [linkedin.com/company/loft-orbital](https://www.linkedin.com/company/loft-orbital)

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