Specialist Engineer, Stress

Virgin Galactic • Gilbert, AZ

8d • $160,544 - $244,948 • Hybrid

About The Position

Virgin Galactic is seeking a Specialist Stress Engineer to contribute to aerospace vehicle design, build, and test activities. Guided by the value “Safety Above All,” the role proactively manages risks associated with human spaceflight. Responsibilities span early concept and development through full production, vehicle life cycle, and sustainment. The Specialist Stress Engineer addresses complex engineering challenges and supports the vehicle life cycle through hands-on assessment and analytical substantiation in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary environment.

The role collaborates with teams including Structures Design, Maintenance & Operations, Manufacturing, Propulsion, and Flight Test to provide design substantiation, test support, and operations support. The engineer is expected to work independently and collaboratively, prioritize timely execution and deliverables, and lead and coordinate stress engineering activities within an assigned project. The position is based in Mesa, Arizona, or Tustin, California, with four days onsite and one day remote.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, concentrated in a relevant engineering discipline.
• At least 12 years of experience in structural analysis or an aerospace engineering discipline adjacent to stress, such as Loads, Methods, or Durability and Damage Tolerance.
• Excellent understanding of material properties and behavior, statics and free-body diagrams, and structural load paths.
• Strong foundational knowledge of stress analysis procedures, failure modes, failure theories, and applicable calculations.
• Knowledge of creating and interrogating FEA models, including pre- and post-processing NASTRAN models and sizing structures and system components.
• Strong teamwork and coordination skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Proficiency with MATLAB, Mathcad, and other industry-standard stress analysis software.
• Willingness to adjust thinking and behavior.
• Ability to communicate in a timely, respectful manner and remain open to other ideas.

Nice To Haves

• Previous experience with FEMAP, HyperX, TMP Slim/Vision, and NASTRAN.
• Previous experience with CATIA V5/V6/3DX and ENOVIA V5/V6/3DX.
• In-depth knowledge of aircraft composite structural analysis and familiarity with industry standards for component manufacture, repair, and assembly.
• Significant experience analyzing primary, secondary, and bonded composite aircraft or spacecraft structures.
• Knowledge of or experience with Fatigue & Damage Tolerance analysis.
• Experience performing crack growth analysis with NASGRO.
• Experience with composite-material modeling and laminate theory.
• Experience participating in multidisciplinary design reviews.
• Prior experience performing liaison or MRB activities in aerospace stress applications.
• Familiarity with MRB tasks for dispositioning non-conformant metallic and composite components resulting from manufacturing, assembly, or field operations.
• Experience with manufacturing-based ERP systems, such as Oracle.
• Experience with Product Lifecycle Management tools, requirements management tools, and configuration management.
• Proficiency in coding or macro creation in one or more programming languages, such as VBA, Python, or C++.
• Autonomy, creativity, and the ability to work quickly and prioritize tasks in a fast-paced environment, independently or as part of a team.
• Strong time management, organizational, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with peers and leadership.
• Experience authoring or contributing to standards and manuals.
• Experience managing and leading small- to medium-sized teams with varying skill sets.
• Experience designing flight vehicles or vehicle systems to requirements or standards such as CFR 14, Parts 400, 23, and 25, or military or NASA standards.

Responsibilities

• Develop technical solutions to complex problems requiring ingenuity and creativity.
• Perform structural analysis to define components, assemblies, and systems analytically and ensure their structural integrity.
• Develop or use global and discrete finite element models.
• Create, review, and update engineering analytical definition and analysis documentation for components and assemblies.
• Prepare clear, concise reports that collect, analyze, and summarize information.
• Provide technical review and approval of engineering documentation, including stress plans, procedures, reports, and associated designs.
• Participate in technical reviews, advise on structural integrity and safety, and verify that technical requirements are achieved.
• Identify errors, omissions, and deficiencies, and recommend revisions or improvements to analyses and design layouts.
• Identify process deficiencies and develop solutions to improve them.
• Contribute to the workflow release process for structural designs.
• Review manufacturing plans and procedures to ensure compliance with design and load requirements.
• Support creation of structural component and system test plans for verifying manufacturing and testing.
• Support production and operations teams in preparing vehicles for flight, including fabrication, implementation, and MRB activities.
• Lead and coordinate a team of stress engineers within an assigned project.
• Promote collaboration with engineering stakeholders during vehicle design, production, integration, test, delivery, and operation.
• Develop stress analysis tools and methodologies.
• Improve stress analysis methods and processes to enhance efficiency and accuracy.
• Contribute to internal technical standards, templates, and lessons-learned databases.
• Manage multiple responsibilities and work collaboratively to complete assigned tasks.
• Coach and mentor junior team members, transfer expertise, and help drive projects to completion.

Benefits

• A full range of medical, financial, and other benefits, dependent on the position offered.
• Other forms of pay, such as bonus or long-term incentive, may be provided as part of the compensation package.

What This Job Offers

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