Specialist, Stress Engineer

Virgin Galactic • Truth or Consequences, NM

3d • $136,063 - $207,596 • Hybrid

About The Position

Virgin Galactic is seeking a Specialist Stress Engineer to support innovative aerospace vehicle design, build, and test activities. The role addresses complex engineering challenges throughout the program life cycle, from early concept and development through production, life cycle, and sustainment. The engineer provides hands-on assessment and analytical substantiation of vehicles in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary environment, supporting vehicle readiness and safety.

The role collaborates with Structures Design, Maintenance and Operations, Manufacturing, Propulsion, Flight Test, and other teams to provide design substantiation, test support, and operations support. The engineer works independently and collaboratively, maintains timely execution of tasks and deliverables, and leads and coordinates a team of stress engineers on assigned projects. The position is based at Spaceport America, with four days on-site and one day remote. Relocation assistance is available.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in a relevant engineering discipline.
• At least 12 years of experience in structural analysis or stress-adjacent aerospace engineering disciplines, such as Loads, Methods, or Durability and Damage Tolerance.
• Excellent understanding of material properties and behavior, statics, 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, 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

• Experience with FEMAP, HyperX, TMP Slim/Vision, or NASTRAN.
• 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 manufacturing, repairing, and assembling components.
• Significant experience analyzing primary, secondary, and bonded aircraft or spacecraft composite structures.
• Knowledge of or experience with Fatigue and Damage Tolerance analysis.
• Experience performing crack-growth analysis with NASGRO.
• Experience with composite-material modeling and laminate theory.
• Experience participating in multidisciplinary design reviews.
• Experience performing liaison or MRB activities in aerospace stress applications.
• Familiarity with MRB tasks for dispositioning non-conformant metallic and composite components 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 and organizational skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and 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, or 25, or military or NASA standards.

Responsibilities

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

Benefits

• Relocation assistance is available.
• A full range of medical, financial, and other benefits is available, depending on the position offered.
• Other forms of pay, such as a bonus or long-term incentive, may be provided.

What This Job Offers

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