Senior Mechanical Engineer/Designer - Flight

As our Senior Flight Mechanical Engineer, you will lead the design and development of detailed 3D CAD models and fabrication drawings that bring our single-stage rocket’s flight hardware to reality. From internal frames and load-bearing mounts to fully integrated flight assemblies, you will ensure that every mechanical system is efficiently designed for minimal mass, ease of integration, manufacturability, and robust flight performance. You will own major flight assemblies end-to-end and serve as a technical leader within the mechanical team, partnering closely with structures, propulsion, avionics, and manufacturing to drive successful flight outcomes.

Impacts & Outcomes

• Own and Lead Flight Hardware Design: Develop and own 3D CAD models of primary and secondary flight hardware (fuselage sections, internal support frames, engine mounting structures, interfacing hardware, avionics housing, etc.), taking assemblies from concept through release.
• Drive Structural & Mass Optimization: Perform hand calculations and FEA to validate designs, define load paths, and ensure compliance with stress and mass requirements. Partner with Structures on advanced analysis and test correlation.
• Technical Leadership: Guide design standards, mentor junior engineers and designers, and contribute to architectural decisions impacting overall vehicle configuration.
• System-Level Collaboration: Work cross-functionally with propulsion, avionics, GNC, and manufacturing to ensure interface control (bolting patterns, harness pass-throughs, thermal interfaces, tolerance stacks, etc.) meets system-level requirements.
• Manufacturing Integration: Lead design reviews with internal teams and vendors. Ensure hardware is DFM/DFA compliant and proactively resolve producibility risks.
• Produce Flight-Ready Documentation: Deliver BOMs and detailed component and assembly drawings that follow GD&T standards and aerospace best practices, ensuring unambiguous build and inspection criteria.
• Own Configuration & CAD Integrity: Maintain part libraries, revision histories, interface control documentation, and BOM accuracy within PLM systems, ensuring the engineering team operates from a single source of truth.

What You Bring to the Team

Required Skills

• 8+ years of experience in mechanical design for high-performance systems, preferably in the aerospace industry
• Demonstrated ownership of major assemblies from concept through flight or production
• Proficiency in 3D CAD software (preferably NX) and strong command of GD&T principles
• Experience performing FEA and hand calculations to validate flight-critical hardware
• Strong understanding of lightweight aerospace design best practices (material selection, structural efficiency, geometric optimization)