Senior Structures Engineer

Cowboy Space Corp.

4d • $172,000 - $203,000

About The Position

As a Senior Structures Engineer, you will own the design and development of primary tanks and welded structures for Cowboy Space Corporation’s launch vehicle. You will translate pressure, thermal, and vehicle load requirements into lightweight, reliable hardware, taking it from requirements and first-order sizing through detailed design, fabrication, qualification, and flight.

You will collaborate with structural analysis, fluids, propulsion, manufacturing, and test teams to develop structural architectures, define interfaces, and resolve hardware issues. The role also contributes to the team’s structural design practices and technical judgment. It requires moving quickly, iterating often, working directly with hardware, and taking full ownership of delivered structures.

Cowboy Space Corporation is building modular, scalable satellite infrastructure for space-based solar energy, on-orbit computing, and optical data transport. The company was founded in 2024 and has raised approximately $365 million.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience designing and developing structures for flight vehicles, propulsion systems, or other high-performance hardware.
• Demonstrated ownership of metallic tanks, pressure vessels, or thin-walled welded structures from design through manufacturing and test.
• Strong fundamentals in solid mechanics, structural stability, materials behavior, and joint design, including pressure loading, buckling, fatigue, and the effects of welding on structural performance.
• Proficiency with mechanical CAD, engineering drawings, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
• Ability to substantiate design decisions with classical hand calculations and interpret structural analysis results in partnership with analysts.
• Experience working directly with manufacturing, inspection, and test teams to resolve hardware issues.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Nice To Haves

• Direct experience designing launch vehicle primary structures or cryogenic propellant tanks.
• Experience with stainless-steel tank construction, sheet and plate forming, and welded assemblies.
• Experience developing weld-joint designs and supporting weld-process qualification, including consideration of material properties, heat-affected zones, distortion, defects, and nondestructive inspection.
• Experience with reusable or repeatedly pressurized hardware, including thermal cycling, fatigue life, inspection access, and repair considerations.
• Experience supporting structural qualification campaigns, pressure testing, and failure investigations.
• Familiarity with relevant aerospace structural standards, pressure-vessel requirements, and material allowables sources such as MMPDS.
• Experience taking hardware from early development into repeatable production and improving designs based on fabrication and test results.

Responsibilities

• Own the full lifecycle of primary tanks and welded structures, from requirements, architecture, and preliminary sizing through drawing release, fabrication, testing, and flight readiness.
• Design tank barrels, domes, bulkheads, weld joints, penetrations, attachments, and supporting structures with clear load paths and defined interfaces.
• Perform first-order sizing and design trades to balance structural performance, mass, manufacturability, inspectability, cost, and schedule.
• Work with structural analysts to establish design load cases and verify strength, buckling, fatigue, and damage tolerance under pressure, thermal, and vehicle loads; incorporate analysis and test findings into designs.
• Develop and release CAD models, engineering drawings, and specifications, including material requirements, GD&T, weld details, and inspection requirements.
• Partner with manufacturing and welding engineers to develop fabrication and assembly approaches that account for fit-up, tooling access, weld distortion, tolerances, and inspection access.
• Define hardware verification requirements and support proof, burst, leak, and structural testing, including test configurations, fixtures, instrumentation needs, and acceptance criteria.
• Support fabrication and test operations; investigate anomalies; evaluate nonconformances and proposed repairs with analysis, manufacturing, and quality teams; and drive design improvements.
• Lead design reviews, manage structural interfaces and configuration changes, and mentor engineers in structural design and hardware development.

Benefits

• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and eligible dependents.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan.
• Paid time off.
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year.
• Paid parental leave.
• Relocation assistance if applicable.
• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior