Infrastructure Engineering Program Manager

Job summary

The Program Manager will lead the technical baseline and integrated execution of test and launch infrastructure from design through commissioning. They will manage third-party engineering firms and align engineering, procurement, and construction teams to ensure the successful build of rocket engine facilities.

Job details

Location: Toronto, Canada Compensation: Competitive base salary + package + stock options Imagine joining a launch company at the point where the drawings are about to become concrete, steel, pipework and ultimately a place where rocket engines will fire. This is not an established aerospace business maintaining infrastructure that already exists. The company is building Canada’s first medium-lift launch vehicle and much of the infrastructure needed to test, develop and launch it still needs to be created. The team behind it includes veterans of some of the world’s most successful launch, aerospace and engineering organisations, bringing more than a century of combined launch and space systems experience to the programme. The engineering philosophy is deliberately pragmatic. A single 725 kN engine will scale from light- to medium-lift through engine clustering. Proven technologies are favoured over unnecessary complexity. Hardware will be tested early and often, finding problems on the test stand rather than discovering them at the launch pad. And this isn't a company waiting for funding before it can move. More than $20M was secured within its first four months, including the largest all-Canadian seed round in the sector and an $8.3M Department of National Defence grant. Now the infrastructure has to catch up with the ambition. The Opportunity We’re looking for an Infrastructure Engineering Program Manager who can help turn that ambition into something physical. Test facilities. Launch infrastructure. Utilities. Equipment. Control systems. Concrete. Conduit. You’ll take ownership of the technical baseline and integrated execution of the company's test and launch infrastructure, from detailed design through construction and commissioning. At many organisations, infrastructure sits quietly in the background. Here, it is on the critical path. The engineering decisions you make today will determine what gets built tomorrow and ultimately whether engines can be tested and vehicles can be launched. You’ll act as the engineering authority for the programme, sitting at the intersection of engineering, procurement, construction and facilities. You won't necessarily design every system yourself. Instead, you'll make sure the entire programme works as one integrated system. You'll manage third-party engineering firms across multiple disciplines, own requirements and the integrated schedule, establish the technical baseline and make the engineering decisions that construction and procurement execute against. The environment is fast-paced, highly autonomous and deliberately lean. What You'll Own You’ll translate programme requirements into engineering scopes, specifications and acceptance criteria, while establishing the change-control processes that keep engineering, procurement and construction working from the same technical baseline. Third-party engineering firms will look to you as their primary technical interface. You'll manage their scopes and deliverables, integrate work across disciplines and hold partners accountable for schedule, quality and technical performance. You'll own the integrated programme schedule and budget baseline across design, procurement and construction identifying the critical path and making sure long-lead decisions happen before they become programme delays. When major equipment and systems need to be purchased, you'll develop the technical specifications and work alongside Supply Chain to evaluate potential vendors. As designs move towards reality, you'll run design and constructability reviews alongside Construction and Facilities, resolving RFIs and engineering changes as issues emerge in the field. And when the infrastructure is finally built, your responsibility doesn't stop. You'll own the technical side of commissioning, defining commissioning plans, acceptance criteria and functional testing before signing off the systems for handover into operational use. Ultimately, you'll be the person keeping engineering, procurement, construction and facilities aligned around one technical plan. The Team Around You You won't be doing this alone. The infrastructure group is intentionally small, with clear ownership across four areas. Engineering owns the technical baseline. Supply Chain sources the equipment and manages commercial commitments. Construction turns the designs into physical infrastructure. Facilities takes ownership once those systems become operational. The boundaries are clear, but in a company moving this quickly, collaboration matters more than job titles. What We're Looking For You'll likely have at least five years' experience delivering infrastructure, facilities or complex industrial projects within environments such as aerospace, energy, advanced manufacturing or heavy industry. You'll have a strong engineering foundation and be comfortable reviewing drawings, specifications and multidisciplinary design packages rather than simply managing a programme from a spreadsheet. Experience managing external engineering firms is important, as is the ability to hold suppliers and partners accountable for scope, schedule and quality. You'll understand integrated schedules and budgets, procurement workflows and equipment commissioning. Most importantly, you'll be comfortable operating somewhere where not every process already exists. In some cases, you'll be expected to build the process yourself. Experience with test stands, propulsion infrastructure or hazardous fluid systems would be particularly valuable, as would exposure to instrumentation, DAQ or control architecture. P.Eng status or eligibility in Ontario would also be advantageous, alongside knowledge of relevant Ontario building and fire codes and Canadian standards. Why Join? There aren't many opportunities where an infrastructure engineer can point to a facility several years from now and say: "I helped build that from the ground up." There are even fewer where the facility you've helped create exists to test rocket engines and support a national orbital launch capability. The company already has the funding, engineering pedigree and launch ambition. Now it needs the infrastructure to make it real. That's where you come in.

What you’ll do

The Program Manager will lead the technical baseline and integrated execution of test and launch infrastructure from design through commissioning. They will manage third-party engineering firms and align engineering, procurement, and construction teams to ensure the successful build of rocket engine facilities.

Requirements

Candidates need at least five years of experience delivering complex industrial or aerospace infrastructure projects and a strong engineering foundation. Proficiency in managing external firms, integrated schedules, and knowledge of Ontario building codes or P.Eng status is highly valued.

Benefits

• Stock Options

Listed skills

• Control · Preferred
• Budget · Preferred
• Supply Chain · Preferred
• Technical · Preferred
• Collaboration · Preferred
• Teams · Preferred
• responsibility · Preferred
• Execution · Preferred
• Energy · Preferred
• Process · Preferred
• Project management · Preferred
• Procurement · Preferred

Other relevant skills

Identified from the job description. Confirm important requirements above.

• Infrastructure Engineering
• Program Management
• Technical Baseline Management
• Vendor Management
• Project Scheduling
• Budget Management
• Commissioning
• Design Review
• Procurement Workflow
• Construction Management
• Change Control Processes
• Multidisciplinary Design Integration

Job areas

• Engineering
• Management & Leadership
• Manufacturing
• Construction
• Science & Research