Head of AIV/AIT & Industrialisation (Space)

Location: Toulouse, France

Company

hirify.global develops in-orbit servicing and space debris removal solutions to support sustainable space operations.

What you will do

• Own the AIV/AIT and industrialisation strategy across programmes, from low-TRL breadboards and demonstrators through prototype and repeatable flight production.
• Build, lead, and develop the AIV/AIT organisation across Industrialisation & Methods, AIT Production, and AIT Industrial Support.
• Oversee spacecraft and payload assembly, integration, verification, environmental testing, anomaly resolution, facilities, GSE, tooling, and test infrastructure.
• Drive Design for Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Test, manufacturability and testability analysis, process qualification, and milestone readiness criteria.
• Coordinate with Engineering, System Architecture, Programme Management, Quality, and Supply Chain on feasibility, planning, contracts, capacity, CAPEX/OPEX, and external partnerships.
• Establish continuous improvement, standardisation, automation, safety, workmanship, and short build-test-fix cycles grounded in test data.

Requirements

• Degree or equivalent in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• 10+ years of end-to-end AIV/AIT experience in the space industry, including at least 3 years in a leadership or management role.
• Experience leading the ramp-up of a space production line and transitioning from prototype EM/QM to series flight production FM.
• Experience using low-TRL test campaigns, breadboards, demonstrators, and rapid hardware iteration to influence design decisions.
• Strong knowledge of environmental testing, including thermal vacuum, vibration, acoustic, shock, and EMC/EMI, with ECSS-E-ST-10-03, MIL-STD-1540, or equivalent standards.
• Proficiency in Lean Manufacturing, VSM, DFMA, PFMEA, QRQC, and 8D, with experience in industrialisation and process standardisation.
• Knowledge of ECSS, EN9100, and ISO 9001 standards, plus experience managing CAPEX/OPEX budgets and presenting to senior leadership.

Nice to have

• Advanced degree or Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.
• Experience in active debris removal, on-orbit servicing, rendezvous and proximity operations, or other complex in-space mission programmes.
• Electrical safety accreditation such as B2V/BE Testing, ESD awareness, and chemical/fluid risk awareness.
• Familiarity with NewSpace development approaches, small satellite platforms, agile programme management, and scale-up environments.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on missions focused on sustainable space operations, in-orbit servicing, and space debris removal.
• Collaborate with engineering, programme, quality, supply chain, and system architecture functions.
• Contribute to building a scalable AIV/AIT organisation, production infrastructure, and test capability.