Senior Mechanical Engineer, Space Hardware

IRPI•Wilsonville, OR

3d•Onsite

About The Position

IRPI is a small engineering team in Wilsonville, Oregon, that designs and builds hardware for spaceflight and ground applications. Its work includes air revitalization and CO₂ removal, water and waste management, condensing heat exchangers, propellant management devices, lunar lander components, and spacesuit subsystems. The team takes hardware from requirements through design, build, test, and delivery, often for flight, and has led more than a dozen flight experiments aboard the International Space Station. Its hardware also flew on NASA’s Artemis II mission. IRPI has an in-house lab for prototyping and testing, and engineers work directly with customers. The Senior Mechanical Engineer will lead customer projects from scope through delivery, owning mechanical subsystem design from requirements through build and test. The role reports to the President or Chief Scientist, depending on the project, and shares technical leadership with a senior engineer who has deep low-gravity fluids expertise. The two senior engineers direct early-career engineers by project. This is a hands-on position involving CAD design, laboratory work, and planning and coordinating engineering work against scope, schedule, and budget. The engineer reviews designs and drawings, explains technical reasoning, and helps newer engineers develop their judgment. The position is full-time and on-site in Wilsonville, Oregon. Relocation support is available. Access to export-controlled technology is required. Applicants must be a U.S. person: a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual such as a refugee or asylee. The role offers a salary of $135,000 to $165,000, based on experience, along with medical and dental insurance, a SIMPLE IRA with a 3% employer match, paid vacation, sick leave and holidays, paid parental leave, schedule flexibility, and an annual performance bonus.

Requirements

B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
At least 7 years of full-time industry experience designing, building, and testing mechanical or thermal-fluid hardware; internships and graduate research do not count.
A record of delivering hardware against customer requirements, schedules, and budgets.
Experience mentoring or directing other engineers while continuing to perform hands-on design work.
Expert SolidWorks or equivalent skills, including production drawings, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
Hands-on build and test experience, including prototyping, machining or additive manufacturing, instrumentation, and data analysis using Excel, MATLAB, or Python.
Clear, confident communication with customers and the team.
Pragmatic, cost-aware design approach and comfort working at a small team's pace.
U.S. person status is required for access to export-controlled technology: U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual such as a refugee or asylee.

Nice To Haves

Experience in engineering services, contract engineering, or customer-funded product development is strongly preferred.
Proposal writing.
Capillary, low-gravity, or broader fluids and thermal experience.
Spaceflight hardware, qualification testing, and NASA lifecycle reviews; familiarity with NASA-STD-5001 or MIL-STD-1540.
Design for DMLS, CNC, and injection molding.
Technical product development experience.

Responsibilities

Lead mechanical design of subsystems from customer requirements through released drawings, build, test, and delivery.
Direct and review early-career engineers on assigned projects by breaking down work, assigning tasks, reviewing designs and drawings, and approving releases.
Serve as the technical point of contact for NASA and commercial customers.
Run internal and customer design reviews, including PDR and CDR.
Produce and review SolidWorks models, assemblies, and drawings with GD&T.
Own configuration control and bills of materials for prototype and flight builds.
Work with machine shops and fabricators to resolve vendor and fabrication issues, including design for manufacturability, quotes, and schedules.
Plan and lead test campaigns, write procedures, run tests, and interpret data to reach clear engineering conclusions.
Scope and estimate work for quotes and statements of work, then track projects against them.
Mentor engineers and share technical leadership with the other senior engineer.