Job Opportunity: Lead AIT Engineer (Satellite Delivery)

Location: West London (Chiswick/W4) | Hybrid (Min. 4 days onsite)Type: Full-time

The Mission

Exobotics is a leading nanosatellite manufacturer pushing the boundaries of space technology. We are looking for a Senior AIT Engineer to own our Assembly, Integration, and Test function end-to-end for two active flight missions: a 16U sensor fusion satellite, and an optical communications project.

Your mission is to take complete ownership of how our satellites are built, tested, and signed off for flight, ensuring both programmes stay on track and the founding team can focus on growing the business.

The Challenge (Outcomes)

This is what the first 12 months looks like if you are doing this job well:

• Campaign Delivery: You deliver AIT campaigns on schedule, with all test anomalies formally closed before handover. You identify risks during the design phase, not at the test bench.

• Procedure Ownership: You write and own the full suite of Acceptance Test Procedures, test reports, and non-conformance records before each campaign begins. You document as you go.

• Test Readiness: You validate Ground Support Equipment (GSE), facilities, and test setups ahead of schedule. Campaigns do not slip because of setup work that should have been done earlier.

• Anomaly Management: You run a clean Non-Conformance Report (NCR) log. Every non-conformance is logged, dispositioned, and closed with root cause. Nothing falls through the cracks.

• Founder Independence: Within an agreed transition period, you own AIT end-to-end. Founders trust the process without needing to supervise it.

Who We Are Looking For

We are less interested in your specific degree and more interested in your behaviours and track record.

• You are focused: In a cleanroom, under schedule pressure, with flight hardware on the bench, you are methodical and precise. You do not cut corners.

• You read the whole system: You understand the mechanical, electrical, software, and RF interfaces well enough to spot risks before they become anomalies.

• You surface problems early: Bad news travels fast from you. You raise a concern the moment you see it, with a proposed mitigation, not at the next formal review.

• You write it down: Procedures, test reports, NCRs: your documentation would survive a customer audit. You treat records as part of the job.

How We Think About AI

We believe most of satellite AIT can be accelerated with AI: drafting test procedures, building verification matrices, triaging anomalies, cross-checking docs against agency standards. Our own pilots are already roughly doubling the speed of some of our most labour-intensive work.

AI doesn't replace cleanroom judgement, it depends on it. A model can draft an ATP in minutes; only an experienced engineer can tell whether it's safe to run against flight hardware. The scarce ingredient is you: someone who has seen what passes and fails on the bench, and can assess, correct, and improve what the models produce.

What we're really looking for is a growth mindset. You don't need a background in AI, though any exposure to AI tools or agentic workflows is a plus. You do need to be genuinely curious about it, willing to experiment, and honest about where it helps and where it doesn't. If you like the idea of pairing engineering instinct with tools that take the tedious work off your plate, so you can focus on the genuinely hard problems, you'll fit well here.

Qualifications:

• Proven hands-on experience in cleanroom environments with flight or high-reliability hardware.

• Experience across at least two of the following domains: vibration/structural, TVAC, RF/comms, EMC, functional/electrical, optical systems.

• Familiarity with AIT procedures, non-conformance processes, and test reporting to agency or customer standards.

• Eligible to work in the UK.

What We Offer

• Autonomy: We invest in our staff and give significant autonomy. We want you to own this role, not just execute orders.

• Impact: You are not a cog in a machine. You are delivering missions that will fly in space.

• Culture: A collaborative, high-trust environment where performance is celebrated.

• Benefits: Competitive salary, 33 days annual leave (inc. bank holidays), and professional development opportunities.

How to Apply

In your cover letter, please briefly describe a time you caught a test anomaly that others had missed, and how you handled it. Feel free to also mention any experience you have using AI tools in your work, or simply why you're keen to start.