Staff Mechanical Engineer
$133k - $174k/yr+ Company stock options
Expert
Bachelor's, Master's
Westminster, CO, USA
In Person
Mechanical EngineeringDesign Engineering
About the job
Requirements
- A Bachelor of Science or Master of Science degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering from an accredited university or institution.
- At least 9 years of experience in communications satellite structures and mechanisms design, from concept design to decommissioning across multiple programs.
- At least 5 years of experience leading technical teams.
- Significant contributions to multiple flight missions, including lead ownership of one or more full mechanical development cycles at the space vehicle level.
- Ability to support subsystem leads with clear mechanical interfaces and cross-functional alignment.
- Hands-on experience in satellite and large instrument assembly, integration, and test that leads directly to design implementation.
- Experience including mechanism operation failures and recovery during testing and operations, as well as mission loss due to mechanism failure.
- At least one experience with a structural failure in environmental testing and recovery from that failure.
- Strong fundamentals in mechanics of materials, hand calculations, and engineering rules of thumb.
- Experience conducting architectural trade studies, including parametric and first-order cost and physical analysis.
- Experience reviewing structural and thermal analyses to ensure designs meet requirements and manufacturability needs.
- Experience with professional mechanical and finite element analysis computer-aided design tools, such as SolidWorks Simulation, Ansys, and Nastran.
- Ability to design and build for manufacturing and cost.
- Expertise in computer numerical control manufacturing and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, demonstrated through the ability to implement and critique mechanical drawings.
- Experience designing and manufacturing composite sandwich panels, including understanding their trades and benefits in satellite structures.
- Experience designing spacecraft primary and secondary structures in a variety of materials.
- Familiarity with design for test, manufacturability, assembly, and reliability.
- Familiarity with spacecraft assembly, integration, and test.
- Hands-on experience supporting environmental test campaigns, including vibration, shock, and thermal vacuum testing.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills for presenting engineering design review materials to customers and the executive team and participating in proposal-writing efforts.
Responsibilities
- Lead a team of engineers responsible for mechanical aspects of spacecraft, subsystems, and interfaces through all phases of the development process.
- Direct and mentor a team of engineers in the design of a satellite.
- Manage a small team developing satellites.
- Deliver mechanical designs from concept through space flight, including requirements definition, architecture trades and block diagrams, analysis, manufacturing, assembly, testing, qualification, and in-orbit support.
- Collaborate closely with guidance, navigation, and control; electrical power systems; command and data handling; payload; radio frequency; systems; and assembly, integration, and test teams.
- Present engineering design review materials to customers and the executive team, and participate in proposal-writing efforts.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience including low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit, and beyond.
- Experience with spacecraft ranging from CubeSats and SmallSats to large geostationary satellites.
- Python or other scripting capability.
- Experience with two or more spacecraft structural and mechanical architectures that informs a vision for next-generation spacecraft.
About the company
CesiumAstro develops end-to-end space and airborne communications systems, including active phased array antennas, software-defined radios, and complete payloads. Its technology enables electronically steered beams for inter-satellite links, high-rate downlinks, lunar and deep-space communication, and 5G/NTN networks. It ships plug‑and‑play, commercially manufactured hardware and SDR software as a full-stack solution, reducing development time and cost. The company targets both government programs (NASA, DoD) and commercial space ventures, aiming to make space-based connectivity more accessible and adaptable.
Company Size
501-1,000
Company Stage
Debt Financing
Total Funding
$780M
Headquarters
Bee Cave, Texas
Founded
2017
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- EXIM and J.P. Morgan backed $300 million financing funds the Bee Cave factory and Texas hiring.
- April 21, 2026 Missile Defense Agency work validates Skylark for national-security modernization.
- The $470 million Series C gives CesiumAstro cash to industrialize manufacturing and scale deliveries through 2027.
What critics are saying
- Three 2026 acquisitions create integration drag and culture clashes before 2027 product revenue lands.
- CesiumAstro still depends on U.S. defense buyers, EXIM financing, and Bee Cave buildout finishing on time.
- L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and Lockheed can crush margins on phased-array programs; CesiumAstro loses share fast.
What makes CesiumAstro unique
- CesiumAstro vertically integrates antennas, radios, semiconductors, and mission software under one roof.
- Its 2026 Jariet, Vidrovr, and 1Aardvark buys deepen full-stack space-defense autonomy.
- Skylark and Element target software-defined, mobile-ready links across missiles, satellites, and airborne platforms.
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Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Disability Insurance
- Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- Stock Options