Project Controls Lead

Job Description

Broomfield, CO · on-site, up to 15% travel to Chugwater, WY · full-time, salaried  ·  Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

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THE MISSION

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Astra Core-X (ACX) is developing affordable and capable combined ramjet/rocket technology for the defense of the United States and our allies. We're rapidly bringing this capability to market by pairing the latest manufacturing processes and technology with solid financial backing and the guidance of world-class industry experts and research institutions.

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Over the past year ACX has grown from a founding team into a roughly 40-person organization standing up its own development production capability out of Broomfield, Colorado and a production/test site in Chugwater, Wyoming. We're mid-build on a production facility and targeting a working pilot line within the next year. At this size, every hire directly shapes how the company runs.

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Our work exists to make American service members and allied forces safer. We're glad to have teammates who've carried that mission in uniform, and we welcome veterans and transitioning service members to apply.

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THE ROLE

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Over the next year ACX is renovating a production facility, standing up a pilot line, building out a remote test site, and moving several new products from development into production, all at the same time and with a lean team. Those efforts share people, equipment, suppliers, and cash, and a slip in one shows up in the others. This role exists to build and own the integrated schedule that ties them together and to give leadership an honest, current picture of where every program stands.

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We're looking for a project controls professional with a real technical background: someone who can sit with engineers and technicians, understand how the hardware actually gets designed, built, and tested, and push back when a duration or dependency doesn't hold up. You'll set up the planning and reporting system nearly from scratch, so you should be comfortable defining the standard, not just following one. We're deliberately small and deliberately fast, and we equip every team, not just engineering, with modern software and AI-assisted tools so a lean group can run like a much bigger one.

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WHAT YOU'LL DO

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•    Build and maintain the integrated master schedule across facility construction, pilot-line installation and qualification, test-site build-out, and new product introduction programs.

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•    Develop work breakdown structures, logic-driven schedules, and baselines with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, facilities, and test leads, and identify and manage the critical path.

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•    Own Smartsheet as the company's planning system of record: workspace structure, templates, cross-sheet dependencies, automations, dashboards, and reports that people actually use.

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•    Plan NPI programs from design release through first article and rate readiness, including long-lead procurement, tooling and equipment, process qualification, and test milestones.

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•    Run the weekly status cadence: collect progress, analyze variance against baseline, forecast completion dates, and report schedule health and risks to program leads and the executive team.

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•    Maintain the program risk and opportunity register, quantify schedule impact, and track mitigation actions to closure.

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•    Work with Finance to track capital and program spend against plan, support CAPEX forecasting, and tie cost status to schedule progress.

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•    Support customer and contract deliverables, including schedule submittals, milestone tracking, and program review material.

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•    Define project controls standards and procedures that fit our quality management system, and help connect planning data to the ERP/MRP system as it is selected and implemented.

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WHAT YOU'LL BRING

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•    5–10 years of project controls, program planning, or scheduling experience in aerospace, defense, space, or complex hardware manufacturing.

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•    Bachelor's degree in engineering or a technical discipline, or equivalent hands-on technical experience in engineering, manufacturing, or test.

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•    Direct experience planning and tracking new product introduction: moving hardware from development into production, with the supply chain, tooling, and qualification work that comes with it.

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•    Strong schedule development skills: WBS, logic and dependency networks, resource loading, baselining, critical path analysis, and what-if forecasting.

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•    Advanced Smartsheet proficiency, including cross-sheet formulas, dependencies, automations, reports, and dashboards. Experience with MS Project or Primavera P6 is also useful.

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•    Enough technical depth to challenge estimates, spot missing work, and understand why a design, build, or test step takes as long as it does.

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•    Clear, concise written and verbal communication, including the willingness to deliver bad schedule news early and plainly to senior leadership.

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•    This role requires access to a controlled-access production facility and export-controlled technical data. Applicants must be U.S. citizens.

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NICE TO HAVE

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•    PMP, PMI-SP, or AACE Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) certification.

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•    Earned value management experience on DoD contracts, including familiarity with EIA-748 and integrated master plan/integrated master schedule (IMP/IMS) deliverables.

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•    Experience planning facility construction or renovation, capital equipment installation, or a new production line startup.

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•    Background in solid rocket motors, energetics, propulsion, or other regulated hazardous manufacturing.

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•    Experience with ERP/MRP systems and connecting production planning data to program schedules.

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•    Active security clearance, or the ability to obtain one.

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PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

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•    Work at a computer for extended periods in an office environment.

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•    Walk production, laboratory, construction, and test areas to verify progress, which may require personal protective equipment and following site safety rules.

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•    Travel to the Chugwater, WY site, including occasional work in outdoor and rural conditions.

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•    Lift and carry items up to 25 pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation.

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COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

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The pay range for this role is $115,000 – $145,000 per year, based on experience and scope.

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Full-time employees are eligible for company-sponsored medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan, and paid time off.

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EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

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Astra Core-X is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate all applicants on their merits and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. Many ACX positions require access to export-controlled technical data; where this posting states a citizenship requirement, it reflects that legal restriction and does not otherwise limit our commitment to equal opportunity in hiring.