Senior Automation & Controls Engineer

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 executes quickly, thrives in a fast-paced environment, and wants to take ownership early. You’ll draw on your deep technical intuition, contribute to systems that scale, and have impact in 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. Conceive, 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 Shape and 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, aero space, materials or other relevant engineering discipline 5+ years of experience in a high-volume manufacturing, production, or hands-on engineering environment 2+ years of experience working in industrial automation and controls in a production environment Strong hands-on aptitude and willingness to work directly with hardware on the production floor In-depth knowledge of precision assembly or electromechanical integration processes Ability to generate and review engineering drawings, schematics, and technical documentation Experience setting up a manufacturing/production floor for first article builds through production rate Nice to Have Full-stack exper