Launch Vehicle Mechanisms Engineer II

Firefly Aerospace•Cedar Park, TX

About The Position

The Launch Vehicle Mechanisms Engineer II is responsible for the design, analysis, development, and qualification of moving mechanical assemblies for launch vehicle programs. The role provides technical leadership across the full lifecycle of mechanisms such as stage separation systems, deployment mechanisms, hold-down and release systems, and other flight-critical moving assemblies. The engineer defines the motion of hardware and develops it into a functional product through detailed analysis and documentation.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a related engineering field.
At least 3 years of experience designing, analyzing, and qualifying mechanical mechanisms for aerospace or high-reliability systems.
Demonstrated experience with flight-critical mechanisms such as separation systems, deployment mechanisms, actuators, latches, hinges, springs, and release devices.
Strong understanding of kinematics, tribology, tolerance analysis, lubrication, and wear in aerospace environments.
Experience designing and testing for extreme environments, including vibration, shock, thermal cycling, vacuum, and cryogenic conditions.
Proficiency with FEA or classical hand-calculation methods to evaluate strength, stiffness, and fatigue.
Experience supporting production builds, resolving nonconformances, and improving producibility.
Experience defining qualification and acceptance test programs and interpreting test data.
Ability to make sound, defensible engineering decisions under schedule and program constraints.

Nice To Haves

Master’s or Ph.D. in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a related discipline, or 5+ years of experience designing, analyzing, and qualifying mechanical mechanisms for aerospace or high-reliability systems.
Experience with launch vehicle or spacecraft programs from development through qualified flight.
Experience driving hardware from a test through to a successful product.
Experience with the design and qualification of separation systems.
Experience with shock mitigation strategies.
A history of successful mechanisms with high lifecycle counts and minimal refurbishment.
Familiarity with scripting or programming for analysis, automation, or data reduction.
Working knowledge of AIAA S-114, NASA 5017b, SMS-S016, NASA 5020, and GEVS.

Responsibilities

Serve as a technical owner and individual contributor developing and producing moving mechanical assemblies that support launch vehicle missions.
Create and manage hardware definitions through CAD and drawings.
Perform or guide detailed analyses, including structural margins, fatigue, contact, wear, thermal effects, tolerance stack-ups, and dynamics of moving systems.
Build confidence and reliability through documentation.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate mechanisms with structures, avionics, propulsion, and operations.
Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain to ensure mechanisms are producible, inspectable, and flight-ready.
Support build, integration, and acceptance activities, resolving fit, function, and performance issues.
Lead development, qualification, and acceptance testing at component, subassembly, and system levels.
Provide technical mentorship to junior engineers.
Act as a mechanisms subject-matter expert across programs and projects.