Our mission is to build a future full of life, on Earth and beyond. Our vision: a future where technology is enabling humans to live in harmony with their environment. A future where biodiversity thrives on Earth and life expands in space. To do so we design and build environment-controlled modules able to create ideal conditions for plants to grow efficiently everywhere – making possible durable farming and biodiversity conservation on Earth, and optimized life-support in space.

THIS POSITION IS ON SITE AND REQUIRES 6-9 MONTHS IN PARIS AT OUR BIOPOD FACILITY AS A START, PRIOR TO DEPLOY AT NEW FACILITY IN THE US

YOUR ROLE

As a Senior Systems Engineer, you will have the unique opportunity to work with a cross functional team of designer, engineers and scientists that is responsible for planning, designing, manufacturing, building, and evolving Interstellar Lab biofarming platform. You will do this in collaboration with management and product team to ensure that the design is properly and effectively implemented according to the objectives. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Hardware, Plant Science, and Product to ensure appropriate and seamless integration of engineering solutions to operate and evolve our biofarm design and drive towards improved efficiency, cost, and performance.
Your creativity and relentless commitment to quality will be expected to analyze, create and maintain systems designs, define and improve processes, and develop product validation techniques in order to ultimately build a state-of-the-art and fully reusable system capable of safely and reliably meeting required performances and allowing for user operations. You will also put your engineering knowledge to the test by performing real-time troubleshooting on the products as it goes from the integration phase through operations. Our fundamental goal is to allow life to grow anywhere; with it comes extreme responsibility to ensure the safety of plants materials and users in charge of growing them.

RESPONSIBILITIES

System Design and Development:

• Oversee the design and implementation of cutting edge-systems and technologies, such as grow systems, climate control, lighting, and irrigation, to optimize yield, quality, and resource efficiency
• Collaborate with Product team to develop and prioritize a pipeline of innovation projects and system optimized biofarm designs that will improve cost, performance, efficiency, sustainability KPIs 
• Ensure timely completion of design and specification deliverables (to Product) required to progress subsystem and biofarm designs 
• Collaborate closely with Plant Science to ensure that engineering solutions enhance plant health, productivity, and sustainability
• Collaborate closely with Management to build farms that are efficient, operable, and on an improving cost curve
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulatory requirements, safety standards, and industry best practices

Project Management:

• Develop and execute project plans, timelines, and budgets for engineering initiatives, ensuring successful execution from concept to completion
• Monitor project progress, identify risks, and implement mitigation strategies to meet deadlines and deliver high-quality outcomes

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Education or experience equivalent to a B.S. in an Engineering discipline
• 10+ years of progressive Engineering leadership experience within a food production, life sciences manufacturing or similar type of environment
• Experience in hardware (from small electronic devices to factory lines, structures to industrial automation) and biological-mechanical interface

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Piercing pragmatism that approaches all design problems from first principles, and is unafraid to reject design work for better approaches.
• Comfort navigating both startup environment, prototypical products and processes, while guiding the company to a more mature operational standard.
• Experience with complex design problems, driving improved economics through design, and deployment speed and performance through processes of design simplification and elimination are also important.
• This role will require close and enthusiastic cross-disciplinary partnership building between engineers and scientists.
• Value physical interaction of prototypes, test products and processes
• Value engineering and reductive design processes
• Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Passion for hands on work when needed to enable project completion
• Self-motivated with strong organizational, written, and oral communication skills

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to rapidly change roles/responsibilities while working in a high-paced, challenging work environment

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at Interstellar Lab. You may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of company stock, stock options, or long-term cash awards. You will also receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various other discounts and perks.

Interstellar Lab is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  Interstellar Lab does not discriminate on the basis of race, regional color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.