Propulsion Manager

Singularity is an aerospace and defense startup headquartered in Gardena, CA. Our founding team hails from SpaceX, Anduril, and Lockheed Martin, and we are backed by Joint Staff-level military leadership and several Silicon Valley firms. Our first product is a low-cost air defense system built for immediate deployment worldwide. With a world-class business development and leadership team already in place, we are well positioned to capitalize on already overwhelming demand.

Division: Propulsion & Energetics

Reports to: VP of Propulsion & Energetics

Location: Keenesburg, CO (on site); periodic travel to suppliers, test ranges, and customers

Type: Full-time, exempt

Direct reports: Leads for NDT, Laboratory, Processing, Design & Development, and Test (team grows with plant ramp)

Clearance: U.S. person required (ITAR); ability to obtain a Secret clearance

Role Summary

The Propulsion Manager leads the design, activation, and scale-up of Singularity Defense's solid rocket motor (SRM) manufacturing plant in Keenesburg, Colorado. Once the plant is running, this person owns the day-to-day technical operations that make and qualify motors: NDT, the chemical and propellant laboratory, milling operations, motor design and development, and static fire testing.

This is a hands-on leadership role at an early-stage company. The right candidate has built or run an energetics production line, can take a facility from construction through first article and rate production, and builds teams that work safely around explosives every day.

Key Responsibilities: SRM Plant Design, Activation, and Scale-Up

• Serve as the propulsion technical owner for the Keenesburg campus, including mixing, casting, milling, X-ray, laboratory, final assembly, magazine, and test stand buildings.

• Define process requirements for each building: equipment, utilities, process flow, material handling, and environmental controls. Translate them into design inputs for the construction manager and architect.

• Specify, procure, and accept major process equipment, including planetary mixers, casting and curing systems, oxidizer grinding and classification, and radiography systems.

• Lead facility activation: equipment installation, IQ/OQ/PQ, inert and live process trials, first article motors, and production readiness reviews.

• Plan and execute the ramp from development lots to rate production. Set capacity targets, staffing plans, and bottleneck mitigation.

• Work with EHS to integrate explosives safety into facility and process design, including quantity-distance siting, hazard classification, process hazard analyses, and standard operating procedures.

• Provide technical input to capital planning, equipment budgets, and schedule.

Non-Destructive Testing (NDT)

• Own the NDT program for motors, grains, and components, including digital radiography/CT, ultrasonic bond-line inspection, and visual inspection.

• Establish inspection procedures, accept/reject criteria, and defect characterization standards aligned with customer and program requirements.

• Feed NDT findings back into process control and root cause investigations.

Chemical and Propellant Laboratory

• Direct the lab supporting raw material acceptance, in-process control, and propellant characterization.

• Oversee testing for propellant properties: strand burn rate and temperature sensitivity, mechanical properties, density, viscosity and pot life, and aging and surveillance.

• Oversee energetic material sensitivity testing (impact, friction, ESD, thermal) and hazard classification data.

• Maintain lab quality systems, calibration, sample control, and data traceability.

• Qualify new suppliers and alternate raw material sources.

Processing Operations

• Manage oxidizer and energetic material grinding, classification, and blending operations.

• Control particle size distribution and moisture to meet propellant formulation requirements.

• Ensure milling is performed under approved hazard analyses and SOPs, with appropriate remote operation, dust control, and housekeeping.

• Track milling throughput, yield, and equipment reliability as the plant scales.

Design and Development

• Lead propulsion design and development for tactical SRMs: propellant formulation, grain design, interior ballistics, case and insulation, nozzle, and igniter.

• Own ballistic performance predictions, margins, and design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR).

• Drive design for manufacturability so new motors transition smoothly into the Keenesburg production line.

• Support proposals, customer technical interchanges, and program requirements definition.

Static Fire Testing

• Manage the static fire program, including the on-site test stand: test planning, instrumentation, data acquisition, and range safety.

• Direct development, qualification, and lot acceptance test campaigns, including temperature-conditioned firings.

• Ensure test data is reduced, analyzed, and correlated to ballistic predictions, and that anomalies are investigated to root cause.

• Coordinate with customers and external ranges for witnessed or off-site testing.

Leadership, Safety, and Compliance

• Hire, develop, and lead the propulsion operations and engineering team as the plant grows.

• Build a strong explosives safety culture. Ensure compliance with ATF, OSHA PSM where applicable, DoD explosives safety standards (e.g., DESR 6055.09), and local fire codes.

• Establish KPIs for safety, quality, throughput, cost, and schedule, and report status to division leadership.

• Support ITAR export control compliance and protection of controlled technical data.

Qualifications

Required

• B.S. in Chemical, Mechanical, or Aerospace Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field.

• 8+ years in solid rocket propulsion or energetics, with at least 3 years leading engineering or production teams.

• Direct experience designing, activating, or scaling an SRM or energetics manufacturing facility or production line.