Senior Mechanisms Engineer

Gravitics, Inc•Seattle, WA

8h•$130,000 - $165,000

About The Position

Gravitics designs and manufactures large-scale orbital structures for commercial operations and defense and government missions. The Senior Mechanisms Engineer will work across the full product lifecycle of challenging assemblies, including pressurized structures, launch adapters, mechanisms, and tooling. The role covers requirements and interfaces, design and development, assembly, verification and qualification testing, operations, manufacturing support, and post-flight analysis. The engineer will perform structural assessments using hand calculations, empirical formulas, and finite element models; create component and assembly drawings; and own custom tooling design and implementation. The role also includes preparing test plans and verification reports, working with suppliers and manufacturing, managing the schedule and budget for owned structural hardware, and tracking and dispositioning non-conformances. The engineer is expected to serve as a reliable system expert from concept through mission operations.

Requirements

Demonstrated past ownership of complex projects.
Knowledge of pressure, vibration, shock, and thermal loads and how to design for them.
At least 8 years of applicable professional experience in space vehicle, launch vehicle, or missile system programs.
Experience with motion/kinematic simulations.
Experience writing and executing structural test plans.
Familiarity with aerospace standard structural analysis methods, such as Bruhn, Niu, Roark, and Shigley’s.
Familiarity with CAD packages.
Experience with industry FEA/FEM tools such as Nastran, ANSYS, or FEMAP.
Strong understanding and application of drafting standards and GD&T (ASME Y14.5) in creating drawings.
Bachelor’s degree in an applicable field.
Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations, to conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations.

Nice To Haves

A proven history of mentoring junior engineers.
Experience working with separation systems and docking/berthing systems.
Familiarity with Siemens NX, which is preferred.

Responsibilities

Oversee the complete lifecycle of moving mechanical assemblies, from requirements and interfaces through design, development, assembly, verification, qualification testing, operation, manufacturing support, and post-flight analysis.
Use first-order hand calculations and empirical formulas to assess and iterate on designs.
Build finite element models and analyze structures to demonstrate that they meet vehicle needs.
Create detailed component and assembly drawings incorporating GD&T and tolerance stack-ups.
Own the design, development, and implementation of custom tooling in support of programs.
Design test plans and generate verification reports.
Work with suppliers and manufacturing to realize designs.
Manage the schedule and budget for structural hardware under their ownership.
Track and disposition non-conformances.
Serve as an expert on their system from concept through the mission control console.