Mechanical Engineer

Salary Range: 90000 to 150000 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-year-salary)

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct structural and modal analyses to ensure the integrity and survivability of spacecraft internal components and sensitive sub-systems across all mission phases.
• Perform finite element analysis (FEA) using tools such as NASTRAN, ANSYS, or Femap to evaluate satellite structures for launch environments, including random vibration, sine sweep, shock, and acoustic loading.
• Collaborate closely with mechanical design teams to optimize mass and stiffness trade-offs, providing timely analysis feedback to inform design decisions and margin management.
• Develop, maintain, and validate finite element models throughout the design lifecycle, ensuring models are representative of the evolving hardware configuration.
• Correlate analytical models with structural test campaigns or other verification activities that validate structural predictions for the full flight assembly.
• Define and support structural test plans, including qualification and acceptance testing for launch loads, and provide analysis support during test execution and data review.
• Generate and maintain structural analysis reports, load budgets, and margin summaries in accordance with project requirements and applicable standards (e.g., ECSS, NASA-STD).
• Participate in design reviews (PDR, CDR, TRR) and present analysis results, assumptions, and conclusions to internal and customer stakeholders.
• Identify structural risks early and propose mitigation strategies in coordination with systems engineering and project management.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Structural Engineering, or a closely related field.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience in structural dynamics analysis, preferably in a space, defense, or high-reliability hardware environment.
• Proficiency in at least one major FEA tool: NASTRAN (MSC or NX), ANSYS, or Femap.
• Working knowledge of launch load environments: random vibration, sine, shock, and acoustic.
• Experience developing and running modal analyses and interpreting results in the context of structural qualification requirements.
• Familiarity with model correlation techniques and test-analysis correlation (TAC) methods.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical results clearly.

Preferred Qualifications:

Hands-on involvement in structural test campaigns — sine sweep, random vibration, acoustic, or modal survey testing.
Familiarity with composite structures analysis and associated failure criteria.
Experience working within a concurrent engineering or agile hardware development environment.
Knowledge of thermal-structural interface analysis or multi-physics simulation.

Additional Requirements

This is a fast-paced, high-impact environment - flexibility to occasionally work extended hours or weekends during critical periods is expected.