About PLD Space

PLD Space is an international company on a mission to transport satellites into space, vertically integrating the engineering, testing, manufacturing, and operations of its reusable and sustainable rockets. Headquartered in Elche (Spain) and founded in 2011 by Raúl Torres and Raúl Verdú, PLD Space has established itself as a integral benchmark in the small satellite launch sector. Its family of MIURA launchers and LINCE crewed capsule position the company as a leader in European technological sovereignty for space transportation, covering the full spectrum of space missions.

PLD Space operates over 188,000 m² of facilities in Elche, Teruel (Spain), Kourou (French Guiana), and Duqm (Oman), enabling the company to provide comprehensive satellite and payload launch services into space.

Teamwork, courage, determination and ambition enable PLD Space to guarantee an autonomous, independent satellite space access capability, based on reliability at a globally competitive price. The company is able to offer best-in-class launch services to commercial satellite operators, institutions, space agencies and national and international governmental entities

Mission

- The role of Principal Engineer is the technical authority responsible for the successful technical execution, integration, qualification, and flight readiness of MIURA 9 launch vehicle development.
- The position reports directly to Company´s CTO (Chief Technical Officer) and MIURA Family Vehicle Chief Designer as part of the System Architecture team. The role acts as the principal vehicle-level technical coordinator for the assigned launcher configuration.
- Principal Engineer ensures that the assigned vehicle configuration is technically integrated, executable, qualified, and operationally ready for qualification and launch.
- The role ensures that all vehicle subsystems function together as one coherent, reliable, manufacturable, and flight-ready launch system.
- The role maintains the integrated technical baseline of the vehicle and leads cross-functional technical convergence throughout the development lifecycle.




- This role reports directly to the CTO and MIURA Family Vehicle Chief Designer as part of the System Architecture team.
- Works in close coordination with Engineering Managers, Program Management, Manufacturing & Industrialization, Test & Qualification, Flight Operations, Systems Engineering, Product Assurance & Quality, and Mission & Customer Engineering.

Main Responsibilities

- Own the integrated technical baseline for MIURA 9.
- Ensure the vehicle architecture satisfies mission performance, reliability, manufacturability, operational, and safety objectives.
- Lead major technical trade-offs affecting vehicle performance, mass, reliability, cost, manufacturability, and launch operations.
- Ensure subsystem compatibility and interface consistency across the entire launch vehicle.
- Act as the escalation point for unresolved vehicle-level technical issues and coordinate system level issues with CTO.
- Define, coordinate, and control the technical scope of MIURA 9.
- Coordinate technical integration across propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, software, manufacturing, test, and launch operations.
- Ensure system-level and subsystem-level requirements are complete, technically consistent, and verifiable.
- Approve system-level and subsystem-level verification and validation strategies.
- Lead or provide technical authority for major design reviews and readiness reviews.
- Own and maintain the vehicle-level technical risk posture.
- Ensure the vehicle design is manufacturable, testable, inspectable, operable, recoverable, and reusable.

Role Boundaries

- Responsible for vehicle technical baseline ownership.
- Responsible for cross-system technical integration and vehicle-level technical decisions.




- Responsible for technical risk management and flight readiness recommendations.
- Not solely responsible for full program budget and commercial schedule ownership.
- Not responsible for company-wide technology strategy or corporate organizational leadership.
- Not responsible for MIURA family technology roadmap evolution.

Required Qualifications

- 10+ years of experience in launch vehicles, rocket propulsion, spacecraft, aircraft, or complex aerospace systems.
- Proven experience leading multidisciplinary engineering development through design, test, qualification, and operations.
- Strong understanding of propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, software, manufacturing, and launch operations.

Experience with systems engineering, verification and validation, configuration management, technical reviews, and technical risk management.

Key Skills

- Strong systems engineering judgment
- Vehicle-level technical integration mindset
- Ability to make balanced technical decisions under schedule and operational pressure
- Cross-functional leadership capability
- Excellent technical communication and decision-making skills
- Strong ownership, accountability, and engineering discipline

Benefits Health & Wellness

- Physiotherapy within our facilities
- 50% discount on your health insurance
- You can sign-up your family members with health insurance at a competitive price.
- Healthy snacks and lots of fruit

Find balance

- 23 days of paid vacation plus December 24th and 31st
- Flexible work schedule

Never stop learning

- We encourage practical learning
- We promote professional development through internal mobility and teamwork

Focus on your financial future

- Childcare flexible contributions
- Restaurant tickets
- Transport flexible contributions
- Training support

Values We have five critical beliefs that guide the way PLD Space is shaping the future of space launch technologies.

- Teamwork.
- Hard work.
- Dynamism.
- Commitment.
- Keep it simple.

Join us to reinvent how rockets are built!

📌 MIURA 9 Principal Engineer (Elche)
🏢 PLD Space
📍 Elche