FGSE Lead Technician

GSE Technician Supervisor

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing.

Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

As a GSE Technician Supervisor, you will coordinate the fabrication of a variety of Ground Support Equipment. You will work closely with engineers, purchasers and contractors while directing GSE technicians to facilitate cost-effective and on-time GSE project builds. You will have the opportunity to leverage your knowledge of materials and fabrication techniques to influence and drive simplicity, manufacturability, operability, and serviceability into mechanical and fluid systems.

The Lead FGSE Technician is a senior hands-on technical leader responsible for coordinating and executing Ground Support Equipment fabrication, installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and system upgrades supporting rocket production, testing, and launch operations. This role provides daily technical directions to FGSE technicians, establishes work priorities and execution sequence, removes blockers, and ensures work is completed safely, efficiently, and to released engineering requirements.

The Lead remains actively involved in complex mechanical and fluid-system work while serving as the primary technician-level interface between the workforce, Engineering, Test, Launch, Quality, and supervision.

Responsibilities:

• Lead daily execution of FGSE fabrication, installation, maintenance, troubleshooting, modification, verification, and system-upgrade activities.
• Translate organizational priorities into clear technician assignments and executable daily work. Coordinating Level I, II, and III technicians across simultaneous work scopes.
• Establish work sequence and identify predecessor, successor, and parallel activities. Maintaining awareness of critical-path work and adjusting technician assignments as priorities change.
• Identify material, tooling, engineering, access, manpower, and schedule constraints before they impact execution. Ensuring technicians understand the required end state before beginning work. Verify that work meets established workmanship, cleanliness, configuration, inspection, and documentation requirements before turnover.
• Perform and provide technical direction for complex mechanical and fluid-system fabrication, installation, troubleshooting, repair, and modification.
• Support systems include stainless-steel tubing and piping, valves, regulators, instrumentation, fluid panels, supports, pneumatic systems, hydraulic systems, high-pressure gas systems, cryogenic systems, pumps, and associated GSE hardware.
• Review and interpret P&IDs, mechanical drawings, fabrication drawings, assembly drawings, work instructions, and technical procedures.
• Identify drawing conflicts, constructability concerns, incomplete requirements, or field-condition discrepancies and coordinate resolution with Engineering.
• Provide constructability and operability feedback during design, fabrication, installation, modification, and system verification activities.
• Support pressure-system verification, hydrostatic proof testing, pneumatic testing, leak checking, flushing, cleaning, commissioning, and turnover when trained and qualified.
• Support tubing fabrication, tube bending and routing, compression fittings, process piping, controlled torque, dimensional inspection, rigging, and material-handling activities.
• Troubleshoot complex mechanical and fluid-system problems and determine when Engineering, Quality, EH&S, or supervisory involvement is required.
• Coordinate work across FGSE, MGSE, EGSE, Engineering, Quality, Test, Launch, and other supporting organizations. Ensure JIRA tickets, work logs, photographs, discrepancies, and completion documentation accurately represent completed and incomplete work.
• Monitor assigned work progress and communicate schedule risks, blockers, and changing priorities to supervision. Lead small project teams or focused execution efforts as assigned while remaining an active hands-on technical contributor.
• Identify work that can be prepared, kitted, fabricated, or staged ahead of need.
• Reinforce tool control, FOD prevention, contamination control, PPE, LOTO, pressure-system controls, and applicable safety requirements.
• Exercise and reinforce stop-work authority when technical, quality, or safety requirements are not adequately understood or controlled.
• Mentor and evaluate technicians through hands-on instruction, technical guidance, and professional feedback.
• Support development and improvement of OJT, standard work, procedures, tooling, fabrication methods, work sequence, and…