Senior Mechanisms Engineer

World Aquatics; Ivry-sur-Seine; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity package

Competitive compensation

Access to cutting-edge facilities

International team

Job summary

Gama, a NewSpace startup based in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris, seeks a Senior Mechanisms Engineer who will own deployment mechanisms for ultra-light structures from concept to production. You will lead kinematics analyses, develop gear trains and actuators, and work hands-on with hardware for prototype and production testing.

You will contribute to robust, flight-proven designs for high-consequence environments while mentoring juniors and collaborating with an international team.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on experience designing mechanisms that move — deployables, gear trains, actuators or precision linkages — in aerospace, automotive, robotics, or a similarly demanding industry.
• Multiple full development cycles: taken a mechanism from blank sheet to a flying/fielded product more than once.
• Deep expertise in gear trains, spring-driven or motor-driven deployment systems, latching/release devices, or precision kinematic mechanisms.
• Fluency with CAD (e.g. CATIA, Siemens NX) and motion/kinematic simulation tools; comfort with hand calculations to sanity-check results.
• Strong analytical skills, a proactive attitude, excellent interpersonal skills and unbounded curiosity.
• Autonomy, and a willingness to be fully responsible for a significant part of the finished product.
• A proven track record of delivering reliable mechanisms for harsh or high-consequence environments.
• A willingness to mentor juniors and provide technical leadership for mechanism design.
• Professional level English — further languages welcome

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and qualify deployment mechanisms, hinges, latches, gear trains and actuators for extremely lightweight deployable structures
• Own kinematics, load path, friction, backlash and tolerance-stack analyses across the mechanism life cycle, from concept to detailed design and test
• Get hands‑on with hardware for prototype assembly, mechanism testing (deployment, cycling, vacuum, thermal), and production line development
• Build robust, flight‑proven mechanisms that meet aggressive mass and reliability targets under launch loads and orbital environments
• Define and execute integration, verification and validation strategies for mechanism‑level and system‑level testing
• Mentor junior engineers and serve as a technical reference for mechanism design practices

Skills

Mechanism design

Aerospace experience

CAD CATIA NX

Kinematic analysis

Mentorship

Tools

CATIA

Siemens NX

Motion simulation tools

Job description

Our team is the secret to our success. We are proud to be working with inspiring colleagues who are smart, fun, and ambitious and looking for the challenge to transform an industry. Do you think this could be you? To pursue our vision, we are looking for a Senior Mechanisms Engineer. In this position, you will own the design of deployment and actuation mechanisms for our next-generation ultra-light deployable structures, from concept through qualification all the way to volume production and help shape a growing engineering team alongside former SpaceX engineers.

Your mission will be to:

• Design, develop and qualify deployment mechanisms, hinges, latches, gear trains and actuators for extremely lightweight deployable structures
• Own kinematics, load path, friction, backlash and tolerance-stack analyses across the mechanism life cycle, from concept to detailed design and test
• Get hands‑on with hardware for prototype assembly, mechanism testing (deployment, cycling, vacuum, thermal), and production line development
• Build robust, flight‑proven mechanisms that meet aggressive mass and reliability targets under launch loads and orbital environments
• Define and execute integration, verification and validation strategies for mechanism‑level and system‑level testing
• Mentor junior engineers and serve as a technical reference for mechanism design practices

Profile required

• 5+ years of hands‑on experience designing mechanisms that move — deployables, gearboxes, actuators or precision linkages — in aerospace, automotive, robotics, or a similarly demanding industry
• Multiple full development cycles under your belt: you have taken a mechanism from blank sheet to a flying, driving, or fielded product more than once
• Deep expertise in gear trains, spring‑driven or motor‑driven deployment systems, latching/release devices, or precision kinematic mechanisms
• Fluency with CAD (e.g. CATIA, Siemens NX) and motion/kinematic simulation tools; comfort with hand calculations to sanity‑check results
• Strong analytical skills, a proactive attitude, excellent interpersonal skills and unbounded curiosity
• Autonomy, and a willingness to be fully responsible for a significant part of the finished product
• A proven track record of delivering reliable mechanisms for harsh or high‑consequence environments
• A willingness to mentor juniors and provide technical leadership for mechanism design
• Professional level English — further languages welcome

Company description

Gama is a NewSpace startup based in Ivry‑sur‑Seine, near Paris. We are developing a next‑generation power system for commercial LEO satellites — from solar array power conversion to battery energy storage. We design, build, and test our hardware in‑house, and we move fast: our engineers see their designs go from schematic to flight hardware.

We are a small team where ownership matters: you own your subsystem end‑to‑end, from first calculations to test results. We work hands‑on, we help each other without ego, and we treat mistakes as data — finding out why something failed is how we get better.

We offer:

• Your work will fly. Contribute directly to the future of space exploration and Sustainable Space.
• Access to cutting‑edge facilities and development opportunities in the heart of the European space industry.
• A steep personal development path, working alongside world class aerospace engineers.
• Equity package and competitive compensation.
• A highly talented, dynamic and international team.

You do not need to meet every requirement to apply. If this role excites you and you meet many, but not all, of the criteria, we would be glad to hear from you. We value potential and support growth into the role.