Senior Mechanical Engineer

The role

You will own spacecraft subsystems and critical equipment from requirements through design, build, qualification, and production support. You will lead mechanical trade studies, design flight hardware, and perform structural calculations and FEA.

What you will do

• Own complex mechanical subsystems from concept through qualification and production.
• Lead mechanical trade studies and contribute to spacecraft layouts and architecture.
• Design flight hardware and critical GSE.
• Use first-principles calculations and structural FEA to substantiate designs.
• Build prototypes and develop fixtures and functional tests.
• Own qualification of assigned hardware and support spacecraft vibration and TVAC campaigns.
• Lead resolution of build, integration, test, and production anomalies.
• Own supplier technical execution.
• Coordinate across mechanical, thermal, electrical, payload, GNC, manufacturing, and integration and test teams.
• Review designs, mentor engineers, and improve engineering practices.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related engineering field.
• 7+ years of mechanical hardware development experience.
• Demonstrated responsibility for complex assemblies or subsystems in aerospace or another high-reliability field.
• Record of independently taking hardware from requirements and concept through detailed design, build, and qualification or equivalent verification.
• Strong mechanical fundamentals, including load paths, joints and fasteners, materials, thermal and optical properties, manufacturing processes, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
• Proficiency in 3D CAD and drawing release using SolidWorks or a comparable platform.
• Ability to perform and critically assess structural calculations and FEA.
• Hands-on experience assembling, inspecting, troubleshooting, and testing hardware.
• Demonstrated judgment in technical tradeoffs, clear communication across disciplines, and experience guiding design reviews or mentoring other engineers.

Nice to have

• Experience with spacecraft hardware, launch environments, or other high-reliability hardware with demanding structural and environmental requirements.
• Experience with deployment or separation mechanisms, precision assemblies, electronics packaging, or spacecraft handling and lifting equipment.
• Experience supporting vibration, shock, or thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing and using test results to improve hardware.
• Experience transitioning designs into repeatable production, resolving supplier issues, or improving assembly and inspection processes.
• Experience leading subsystem architecture, managing complex supplier deliverables, or coordinating technical interfaces with launch providers or deployer vendors.

About the company

Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth. With Pulsar, Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.