Job Description
About the Opportunity
This client is building a highly unique innovation lab designed for rapid experimentation, deep-tech prototyping, and bold moonshot thinking. It is a rare chance to bring your wildest and best ideas to life alongside a tight-knit team of builders — with access to significant capital and resources, but without the pressures of venture capital dictating your next move.
The lab’s mission is to:
Prototype ideas that could reshape industries and society
Serve as a proving ground for ambitious, world-impacting ideas
Build where no roadmaps exist yet
Encourage experimentation across disciplines with speed and rigor
This is where raw ideas become real-world breakthroughs.
About the RoleThe Founding Team Engineer / Entrepreneur in Residence will join the core team responsible for launching the lab’s first generation of moonshot projects. The role is intentionally broad and entrepreneurial :
Take ownership of early-stage “what if…” ideas, turning them into working prototypes
Drive concepts through design, build, testing, and iteration
Prove feasibility with working demonstrations that open the door to scaling
Collaborate with other specialists, contributing expertise across projects and absorbing new perspectives
Ultimately, grow successful projects into teams and programs under your leadership
This role is best suited to those who thrive in ambiguity, prefer building over remaining in the dream space, and want to push the edge of what’s possible in hardware, software, and integrated systems.
Who We Are Looking ForThis client seeks a builder with both depth and breadth : someone with deep technical expertise in one discipline and the curiosity and flexibility to collaborate across others.
I am not looking for dreamers and tinkerers who can dream up ideas for others to figure out the details. This opportunity is for the builders who can dream it, shape it, and then build a team to bring it to life.
This lab provides the materials, the funding, and a team of exceptionally brilliant interdisciplinary thought partners to collaborate with. You bring the ideas, the drive, the vision and follow through.
People who have one of these core disciplines:
Mechanical Engineering : structural design, mechanisms, thermal systems, CAD, additive manufacturing, hardware validation
Electrical Engineering : power systems, electronics design, PCB, harnessing, embedded systems, robotics integration
Software Engineering : embedded software, autonomy, controls, simulation, AI/ML for design and iteration, full-stack prototyping
Biosciences & Related Fields : integration of biological systems, bio-inspired engineering, planetary sciences
Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field
7+ years of experience delivering complex systems or equivalent track record of impact
Hands-on experience taking ideas from concept → design → prototype → test → delivery
Ability to thrive in ambiguity and self-direct in an unstructured environment
Strong communicator and collaborator across disciplines
Prior work in innovation labs, skunkworks, or early-stage R&D organizations (e.g., Google X, DARPA, Skunkworks, etc.)
Track record of launching successful prototypes in open-ended, high-risk, high-reward domains
Logistical Requirements
Location: On-site, Southern California
Commitment: Full-time, high-autonomy
ITAR Requirement
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.15), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role is not defined by hours logged or polished presentations but by:
Taking meaningful shots on goal — experimenting, testing, and iterating
Demonstrating progress through working prototypes
Driving at least one moonshot to external demonstration and scaling
Contributing expertise across other breakthrough projects in the lab
This is a rare opportunity to join a founding innovation lab where your ideas are the roadmap, and the resources exist to make them real.
Benefit Highlights
Equal Opportunity
Our client is an equal opportunity employer. They evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.About AdAstra
AdAstra Talent Advisors is a headhunting and talent advising firm focused on the Climate, Space, and Defense sectors of Hard Tech. We specialize in pairing highly technical and executive talent with some of the world’s leading Hard Tech startups.
At AdAstra, we catalyze the innovations that future generations depend on by placing the right people in the right seats. Our dedicated work enables inconceivable technology from Earth, to the stars. And it’s all because of trailblazing talent like you - those driven to do what’s never been done before.
We care about long term relationships with both candidates and companies. Even if the role we initially discuss isn’t a perfect fit, it’s likely we’ll have something relevant to share with you in the future.
Join us on our journey by following along via LinkedIn!
CEO, Seyka Mejeur | LinkedIn profile
CTO / COO, Brian Mejeur | LinkedIn profile
AdAstra Talent Advisors | LinkedIn profile
AdAstra Website
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