Lead Mechanical Design Engineer

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Propulsion Engineering team at STARK designs, builds, and tests the high-performance hardware that powers our flight vehicles. We are a fast-moving, multi-disciplinary group of mechanical, aerothermal, and manufacturing specialists who thrive on rapid iteration and first-principles engineering. Operating under rigorous safety and compliance standards, we collaborate closely with Legal and Procurement to securely build out our hardware pipeline and deliver decisive aerospace capabilities.

YOUR MISSION

You will own the mechanical design of our propulsion hardware, from early concept through to manufactured, tested parts. This covers both flight-representative engine components and the test rigs and ground support hardware needed to develop them.

Working closely with mechanical and aerothermal analysis engineers, you will create designs that survive extreme thermal and mechanical loads, can be made quickly and affordably, and can be iterated fast as data comes in and the design develops. You will also support the creation of the design infrastructure that the team will grow with: drawing standards, data management, and design review processes.

You will report to the Chief Engineer for the programme. As the project continues, you will have the option of building and leading a mechanical design engineering team.

The team is small but growing rapidly. We move fast, learn fast, and make the most of modern tools to maximize progress. We are versatile and happy to turn our hand to a wide range of skills and problems in order to progress, noting that good designs are made at the interfaces and compromises.

WHAT YOU WILL DO AT STARK

• Own End-to-End Mechanical Design: Drive the design of propulsion hardware from early concept phases through to manufactured, tested parts.

• Deliver Diverse Hardware: Design both flight-representative engine components and the critical test rigs and ground support hardware required to develop them.

• Iterate with Analytical Teams: Collaborate closely with mechanical and aerothermal analysis engineers to build hardware that survives extreme thermal and mechanical loads, can be produced rapidly and cost-effectively, and adapts to test data in real time.

• Establish Engineering Infrastructure: Contribute to building and scaling our team's fundamental design infrastructure, including drafting standards, data management, and design review processes.

• Scale the Team: Report directly to the Chief Engineer for the programme, with the long-term opportunity to build, mentor, and lead a dedicated mechanical design engineering team.

• Drive Cross-Functional Adaptability: Work in a highly versatile, rapid-growth team environment where you will routinely apply a broad set of engineering skills to solve problems at the interfaces of complex sub-systems.

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE MISSION

• Extensive experience designing complex mechanical hardware, with a track record of designs taken through to manufacture and test.

• Thermal & Load expertise: Proven experience designing components for high-temperature, high-load environments (gas turbines, rocket engines, ramjets, reciprocating engines, industrial combustion, or similar).

• Aerospace focus: Experience designing flight-weight hardware for the aerospace industry.

• First-principles engineering: Ability to design from first principles, including the selection of COTS components and sizing components using both first principles and FEA.

• 3D CAD proficiency: Advanced skills in Solidworks (other similar systems will also be considered).

• Drawing & Tolerance mastery: Skilled at producing part and assembly drawings for production with excellent knowledge of GD&T and tolerance stack-up analysis.

• Academic background: Engineering degree or equivalent practical experience.

Beneficial Experience:

• Working on supersonic/hypersonic vehicle hardware.

• Working on aerospace propulsion systems (particularly combustion systems).

• Designing for metal additive manufacturing (including design for AM, build orientation, support strategy, and post-processing).

• Sizing pressure equipment design to recognized codes (PED, ASME BPVC, or similar).

• Setting up PDM/PLM systems, drawing standards, and configuration controls from scratch.

• Working with topology optimization systems and generative design.