Staff Infrastructure Systems Engineer

Astra’s mission is to improve life on Earth from space by creating a healthier and more connected planet. Today, Astra offers one of the lowest cost-per-launch dedicated orbital launch services, and one of the industry’s leading flight-proven electric propulsion systems for satellites, the Astra Spacecraft Engine.

The Opportunity 

This role focuses on infrastructure for people and internal systems:

• Identity (SSO, RBAC, lifecycle)
• Endpoints (Mac, Windows, Linux)
• Access (device trust, zero-trust networking)
• Internal platform and automation

This is not a DevOps or SRE role

• You will not primarily own CI/CD pipelines or Kubernetes clusters
• You will not focus on application deployment infrastructure
• This role is about access, identity, endpoints, and secure systems for humans

How You'll Fulfill Your Mission

• Own identity as a first-class system (SSO, RBAC, lifecycle, device trust)
• Build a fully automated onboarding/offboarding pipeline
• Design and operate endpoint infrastructure across Mac, Windows, and Linux
• Eliminate manual IT work through automation, scripting, and tooling
• You should expect to spend the majority of your time building systems and automation—not responding to tickets
• Architect secure network infrastructure across office, lab, and remote environments
• Design and implement modern access patterns (e.g., WireGuard-based networking, zero-trust, device-aware access)
• Own firewall and perimeter security (Palo Alto, Juniper, or equivalent)
• Enable secure, compliant access to cloud environments (AWS GovCloud, GCP Assured Workloads)
• Drive compliance (CMMC, ITAR) through systems—not paperwork
• Partner directly with engineering to remove friction and increase velocity
• You will have high ownership and autonomy to define how these systems are built and operated

Why We Value You

• 8+ yrs of related experience
• 5+ years Proven experience building and owning infrastructure systems 
• Deep experience with identity systems (Azure AD / Entra or equivalent; SAML/OAuth/SCIM)
• Strong experience managing heterogeneous endpoint fleets (Mac, Windows, Linux; MDM such as Intune/Jamf/Kandji)
• Hands-on experience with network security and modern connectivity patterns (VPNs, WireGuard, zero-trust networking)
• Strong scripting and automation skills (Python, Bash, or similar)
• Experience integrating systems via APIs and event-driven workflows
• Experience operating in regulated environments (CMMC, ITAR, FedRAMP-like)

What Sets You Apart

• You treat internal infrastructure like a product, not a helpdesk
• You automate everything that happens more than once
• You reduce complexity instead of adding it
• You think in terms of identity-first and network-minimized architectures
• You can debug across identity, network, endpoint, and cloud boundaries
• You have strong opinions about how systems should be built—and can back them up

Desired Multipliers 

• Experience in GCC High environments (Microsoft Entra ID)
• Familiarity with Amazon Web Services GovCloud or Google Cloud Platform Assured Workloads
• Experience with WireGuard-based networking or modern secure access platforms (e.g., Tailscale, Cloudflare Zero Trust)
• Experience supporting hardware, lab, or manufacturing environments
• Experience designing zero-trust or device-trust architectures

The pay range for this role is: $160,000-220,000

Salary and Benefits

We're competitive in compensation and offer equity as part of the package. We have great benefits that include health, vision, denta