(Senior) Associate Programmes

The Exploration Company

Here at The Exploration Company, we are developing, producing, and operating Nyx, a modular and reusable space orbital vehicle that can eventually be refuelled in orbit and that can carry cargo - and potentially humans in the longer run. As we scale our vehicle portfolio, we are growing the team responsible for bringing these vehicles to life. ROLE OVERVIEW As Assembly Integration and Testing Lead Engineer, you will own end-to-end vehicle manufacturing at TEC — from the first component arriving on the floor to the final acceptance hand-over. You will ensure that all TEC vehicles (Capsule, Lunar Lander, and Satellites) are delivered On Time, On Quality, On Cost (OTOQOC). Leading a multidisciplinary AIT organization, you will set the technical and operational standards that define how TEC builds spacecraft. Direct reports include: • GSE (Ground Support Equipment) • Mechanical / Propulsion / Thermal • Operations • Electrical Functional Test   KEY RESPONSIBILITIES In your capacity as Lead AIT, your role will be continuously evolving, but day to day your duties will include: Vehicle Realisation & OTOQOC • Ensure all TEC vehicles (Capsule, Lunar Lander, Satellites) are assembled, integrated, and tested On Time, On Quality, and On Cost. • Define, implement, and enforce AIT plans, procedures, and schedules across all programmes. • Drive non-conformance resolution and lessons-learned processes to continuously raise the quality bar. • Ensure full traceability and compliance of AIT activities with applicable quality, safety, and reliability standards (ESA, NASA, or equivalent). Team Leadership • Lead, mentor, and develop the AIT team across GSE, Mechanical/Propulsion/Thermal, Operations, and Electrical Functional Test functions. • Set clear objectives, KPIs, and development plans for direct reports and the broader AIT organisation. • Foster a culture of extreme ownership, rigour, and continuous improvement on the shop floor and respect of rules for Flight hardware building (double check, cleanliness etc…). Budget & Resource Management • Own and manage the AIT budget, ensuring resources are allocated efficiently across programmes. • Build and maintain multi-year budget forecasts aligned with the vehicle development roadmap. • Identify cost optimisation opportunities without compromising schedule or quality. Operational Planning & Infrastructure • Anticipate and plan operational needs including cleanroom and integration hall floor space (SQM), infrastructure upgrades, and tooling procurement. • Manage the procurement and qualification of all AIT tooling, GSE, and test equipment. • Ensure facilities and infrastructure scale in line with the vehicle production ramp-up. Cross-functional Collaboration • Work closely with Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Programme Management to ensure seamless transition from design to hardware. • Represent AIT in programme reviews, customer audits, and milestone gates. • Interface with external partners, test facilities, and launch service providers as required.   WHAT WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE FROM YOU In the role of Lead AIT, ideally, you will have the following: • 10 to 15 years of experience as an AIT Manager on equivalent space vehicles (spacecraft, launchers, satellites, or planetary landers), with a demonstrable track record of delivering OTOQOC. • Proven ability to lead large, multidisciplinary AIT teams covering mechanical, electrical, propulsion, thermal, and GSE functions. • Deep technical expertise in spacecraft AIT processes, including MAIT planning, work instruction authoring, hazardous operations, and acceptance test campaigns. • Strong budget management skills, with experience owning multi-million-euro AIT budgets and reporting to senior leadership. • Demonstrated experience anticipating and planning for operational infrastructure needs: cleanroom SQM, cranes, vacuum chambers, vibration rigs, tooling. • Solid knowledge of space industry standards (ECSS, ESA, NASA) and their practical application in an AIT context. • Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills: you communicate clearly, make decisions under pressure, and bring your team with you. • Hands-on mindset — you are equally comfortable in a management review and on the shop floor. • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, start-up environment where priorities evolve and resourcefulness is valued. • Fluent in English; French or German is a plus.   BONUS POINTS • Experience with multiple vehicle types (e.g., satellite + crewed vehicle + lander) across different mission profiles. • Exposure to serial production ramp-up in a space context. • Familiarity with New Space operating models and the associated pace and culture. • Experience interfacing with launch campaign teams and range safety. Why you should join us! What makes us special here at The Exploration Company and why we think you will enjoy working here is:   * We’re Agile - we make decisions fast whilst keeping our goals and systems in mind  * We’re Open and Collaborative - we are transparent about risks and obstacles, so that we can cooperate to overcome them   * We have a lot of Fun - we refuel our energy knowing we are democratising space. It’s a wonderful and rare opportunity, are YOU up for the challenge?   We'd love to hear from you if you wish to be a part of our journey. Please submit your CV now for immediate consideration and we will be in touch shortly.    The Exploration Company is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Relocation assistance is provided for those willing to relocate including visa sponsorship where applicable.   All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check, which will be subject to the country, role, and project you applied for. By submitting your application, you acknowledge and agree that any offer of employment may be conditional upon successful condition of this check. The Exploration Company partners with Zinc Work Limited located in the UK (Zinc), a third-party provider, to ensure this process as efficient and transparent as possible. If applicable, you will receive an email from Zinc upon acceptance of your offer with a link to a secure portal where you can provide the required information to Zinc.

Marvel Fusion

WHO WE ARE Founded in 2019, Marvel Fusion is Europe’s leading fusion energy company, uniting 75 scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs across our locations in Munich and Colorado.  Backed by over €385 million in public and private funding, we’re driven by a shared mission: to deliver clean, abundant energy to the world.  WHY MARVEL FUSION By joining us, you will be: * Solving one of the most complex technological challenges known to humanity, harnessing Fusion on Earth * Part of a highly purpose-driven team working on providing the world with clean, safe and abundant energy * Working alongside world-leading scientists and entrepreneurs in the field of Fusion * Part of a start-up where growth on a company and individual level is the default YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES * Lead the company’s export control and sanctions internal compliance programme in close collaboration with the Chief Export Control Officer and the Legal Team  * Own the company’s classification, licensing, and technology-transfer workflows  * Ensure compliance with applicable export control and sanctions laws and regulations, in particular German, EU, and U.S. requirements  * Refine and further develop the company’s workflows, documentation and recordkeeping for export control and sanctions compliance  * In collaboration with the Legal Team, provide export control and sanctions support across all company projects  * In collaboration with the Logistics Specialist, ensure an end-to-end export control process so shipments can be made on time and in compliance  * Conduct export control and sanctions training sessions for company’s employees  * Collaborate closely with the Purchasing, Logistics, Finance and Accounting, IT, Legal, and People Teams on export control and sanctions matters  WHAT YOU BRING * Bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in engineering, natural sciences, law, economics, or another relevant discipline  * At least 5 years of in-house, hands-on export control and sanctions compliance experience in an R&D intensive organisation  * Strong command of German, EU, and U.S. laws and regulations, as well as applicable sanctions regimes  * Pragmatic, business-oriented judgement with excellent communication skills  * Fluent English and at least a good command of German  WHAT WE OFFER Our mission is motivation enough for many. But we also support our team with benefits that foster wellbeing and growth:  * Public transport reimbursement  * EGYM Wellpass fitness club access  * Complimentary health insurance  * Professional development support  * Healthy office snacks  For more information on how we process your application data, please review our privacy notice.

Tacto

YOUR IMPACT Every founder has a list of list of (strategic) initiatives with tremendous potential that lack time to be realized and belong to no one yet. As a Founders Associate, that list is your job. You'll be the right hand to C-level and founders - taking the hardest, highest-leverage, cross-functional initiatives off their plate and driving them to done, with real ownership from day one and access almost no one else in the company has. We hire for the person first, then match you to one of two tracks: TRACK 1 - GENERALIST * Own the most important company-wide initiatives directly with our CEO. Whatever stands between Tacto and its next growth phase that quarter, you take it and drive it to done. * Build new bets from 0 to 1: new product wedges, growth loops, and ideas that could become standalone engines inside Tacto * Operate as a "founder within the company," moving from strategy to hands-on execution and back * Go where the leverage is: one month it's org and hiring, the next a product wedge or a new market TRACK 2 - GO-TO-MARKET * Analyze new markets, industries, and segments, and build the business cases and go-to-market plans to enter them. * Identify our next growth opportunities, e.g. new modules or motions, and turn them into concrete execution plans. * Support the executive team directly: prepare and run C-level meetings with our most important customers, and own the analyses behind them. * Help our revenue leadership reshape the GTM engine and make Tacto one of the best go-to-market organizations in European B2B SaaS. YOUR PROFILE * Smart, driven, and hungry to build - you get energy from moving fast and seeing results * You think strategic but don’t shy away from hands-on execution * You've seen what "great" looks like - through a role or internship at a top-tier startup, in consulting, or VC * Extreme ownership: you build the roadmap, find solutions, and don't wait for permission * You've built something from zero before - and we could see ourselves backing you if you started your own company one day * Ego-free overachiever who makes everyone around them better * Fluent in German and English WHY THIS ROLE IS AWESOME You'll get rare exposure to our founders and senior leadership, working right next to them on Tacto’s most important projects. The growth trajectory of this company depends on the success of the projects you own. It's broad by design: you'll move across different topics and go deep wherever the leverage is, building the instincts you'd need to run a company yourself one day. Most Founders Associates earn a clear next step within 12-18 months, whether that's leading a function, owning a commercial role, spinning up a new business line, or going on to found their own company. WHAT THIS ROLE IS - AND ISN'T We want to be honest about what you're signing up for: * This is a role for people who love to roll up their sleeves and get things done - building, analyzing, and shipping, not advising from the sidelines. You take whatever the most important problem is, even when it's messy, cross-functional, or unglamorous. * You'll own real problems end to end, move fast, and figure things out as you go. In return you get things that are rare and valuable: direct, visible impact, real ownership from day one, and daily exposure to our founders and senior leadership. * The deal: prove yourself, deliver real impact, make a strong case for yourself - then we'll back your next step in every way possible, inside Tacto or beyond. WHY TACTO * We bet on young talent and mean it. We consistently back smart, hungry, young people with real ownership early. 70%+ of our Leadership Team was promoted internally - you deliver impact and sky is the limit at Tacto. * Backed to win big. We are Sequoia and Index-funded and have €50M+ behind us. Our founders sit at the same table as the people defining the global AI agenda, from Sam Altman to Europe's leading tech entrepreneurs. We're building Tacto to be the lighthouse for European industrial AI. * A truly AI-native organization, with every resource you could dream of. All the leading AI tools and custom agents at your fingertips, plus dedicated "AI captains" who keep us at the frontier. * High bar, high speed, genuinely fun. You'll be surrounded by extremely smart and ambitious people who set the bar high and push you to get better every week. Intense, fast, and the opposite of boring. * A front-row seat in the European startup ecosystem. Weekly exposure to leading founders and operators through internal and external events, e.g. with Andreas Klinger, Judith Dada or during large Hackathons. Check out all upcoming and past events here: https://luma.com/tacto * You'll build something that lasts and that matters. You'll help build the company that keeps European industry competitive for the long-term. OUR BACKGROUND Tacto is building the intelligence layer that connects AI to the physical world of manufacturing, starting with procurement. AI is transforming every industry, but it stops at the factory gate. The knowledge that holds manufacturing together - part costs, suppliers, materials - is scattered across systems and people. Over 50% of a product's cost originates from suppliers, making procurement the single largest cost lever in manufacturing and the missing connection between the digital and the physical world. Yet it still runs on Excel and legacy systems. We're changing that with our Procurement Intelligence Platform, trusted by hundreds of companies running billions of Euros of material. Based in Munich, we are 100+ passionate builders who are in-office, with high expectations, fast growth, and a lot of fun. We are supported by >€50m from Sequoia, Index, and Europe's leading tech entrepreneurs and industry veterans. WHY IT MATTERS Manufacturing forms Europe's economic backbone, driving a fourth of Europe's GDP and providing over 30% of jobs. These hidden champions and global market leaders manufacture the physical world around us, from the machines that build our cities to the medical devices that save lives. But the world is changing. The US dominates the digital world of bits. China is scaling the world of atoms, manufacturing at unprecedented speed and scale. Geopolitics are more uncertain than ever. Europe's strength lies in its deep industrial knowledge through generations of engineering. Manufacturing worldwide runs on European machines and software. But that heritage is only an advantage if we leverage it in the age of AI. Tacto builds the AI that connects Atoms and Bits, empowering our Industrial Base to Stay Stronger and building a lighthouse for European tech. WHAT WE OFFER The people at Tacto are passionate about building the organization, growing themselves, and our product while having fun and being real. We have high expectations, great talent density, and a culture where your ambition, performance, and agency are what count - not where you come from or how big your ego is. You'll grow at the forefront of AI, have real ownership and impact, and be surrounded by the best people in their field who challenge you and make you better every day. That is demanding and rewarding, but that's where we thrive. Besides that you have: * Money: Competitive salary & equity in the company with real upside, so you are invested in our success * Workplace: A vibrant in-office culture (> 4 days/week) in a beautiful office in central Munich * Development: A development budget and regular exposure to exceptional people, e.g., Lunch & Learns, peer mentoring, external speakers * Time off: 26 + 4 vacation days per year (4 fixed “company rest days”) as well as regular off-sites and team events * Health: Wellpass membership, of course, a fruit basket (!), and access to Jobrad, for your health * Family & Social Security: Voluntary pension contribution, voluntary KITA subsidy for your children Tacto is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or gender identity. Please do not submit personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, data concerning your health, or data concerning your sexual orientation.