Analysis Engineer II (Spacecraft)

Firefly Aerospace, Inc.; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Parental leave

Educational reimbursement

Short-term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is seeking an Analysis Engineer on the Mechanical Engineering Team to perform structural analyses across spacecraft, launch vehicles, and ground support equipment. You will leverage ANSYS and NX Nastran to optimize designs while meeting strength and stability requirements.

You will collaborate with design, manufacturing, and test teams, develop validation plans, and ensure analyses align with program safety factors. U.S. ITAR compliance applies.

Qualifications

• Master’s or higher in mechanical, aerospace or civil engineering with 2+ years of relevant experience, or 5+ years with a Bachelor’s degree.
• Proficient with analytical simulation software and hand calculations for structural analysis.
• Familiar with aerospace standard analysis methods.
• Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team and provide technical guidance.
• Strong understanding of first principles related to structures and materials.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with design, manufacturing and test engineering across the design lifecycle.
• Perform structural analyses by hand calculations and FEM for composites and metals.
• Conduct linear and nonlinear analyses, buckling, and modal analyses using ANSYS and NX Nastran.
• Develop test requirements to validate analysis models with data.
• Review internal and external analyses and ensure safety factors.

Skills

Structural analysis

FEM analysis

Analytical methods

Education

Master’s Degree in Mechanical/Aerospace/Civil Engineering

Bachelor’s Degree with 5+ years experience

Tools

ANSYS

NX Nastran

Job description

At Firefly, we’re focused on making space attainable for everyone – including you! Each team member’s passion, dedication, and innovative ideas have a direct impact on fueling our successful trajectory into space. And there’s no shortage of meaningful projects to work on at Firefly. With launch, lunar, and orbital vehicles, Firefly has a diverse line of business with opportunities to get hands‑on experience launching rockets, operating in space, and landing on the Moon.

What does SciTec bring to the Firefly family?
...

What does SciTec bring to the Firefly family?
...

Peep our Elytra orbiter being assembled in the ...

Peep our Elytra orbiter being assembled in the ...

Start your week with another Manufacturing Minute! ...

Start your week with another Manufacturing Minute! ...

This World Space Week, remember to look up and ...

This World Space Week, remember to look up and ...

The engine powering Alpha`s first stage is truly ...

The engine powering Alpha`s first stage is truly ...

More cleanroom space. More spacecraft in ...

More cleanroom space. More spacecraft in ...

Our Values

Headquartered in the Lone Star State, Firefly’s hardworking team reflects Texas’ GO BIG culture in everything we do. We build big, achieve big, and dream big. We’re building launch vehicles and spacecraft to provide rapid, reliable space access. We’ve achieved some incredible wins, including the first successful commercial Moon landing. And we’re dreaming bigger than this planet with ambitions to Mars, Venus, and beyond. Our core values are what drive us along the way.

Passion

Fireflies believe in perseverance, responsiveness, and mentoring others with a focus on inspiring a better future.

Accountability

Fireflies act with integrity and take ownership of our actions, commitments, decisions, and outcomes.

Fireflies work in alignment across teams and communicate clearly with mutual respect for one another.

Fireflies deliver high-quality work through technical rigor and timely disciplined execution for our customers.

We take care of our Fireflies with some of the best benefits in the industry. Our mission to make space for everyone starts with our employees and allowing them to make space for their family, their career, and their future.

Space for You

• Unlimited PTO for exempt employees
• 3-month sabbatical for every 5 years of service
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
• Mental health services
• Paid military leave

Space for Your Family

• 12 weeks paid maternity leave
• 4 weeks paid spouse leave
• $20k towards family planning: fertility, surrogacy, adoption
• Dog friendly workplace

Space for Your Career

• $10k/year towards trade school or college
• Ongoing coaching to advance leadership skills
  • Employee-ownership with stock bonuses
  • 4% Safe Harbor 401(k) matching
  • $10k bonus for home purchase in Cedar Park, Texas

Job Openings

From launch technicians to propulsion engineers, Firefly has open roles across the company. We’re looking for passionate, bright innovators to join our team and help make space an achievable dream for everyone.

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

As a Analysis Engineer on the Mechanical Engineering Team, you will be responsible for analysis of various structures across multiple projects including spacecraft, launch vehicle structures, and launch and test ground support equipment. You will use your knowledge of structural analysis to improve previous designs and influence new designs by minimizing weight and at the same time ensuring conformance to program and customer strength and stability requirements. You will leverage testing of hardware to correlate and validate analysis models.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Collaborate with design, manufacturing, and test engineering to develop hardware throughout the design lifecycle
• Perform structural analyses by classical hand calculation and finite element analysis for composites and metals.
• Perform linear and non-linear structural analysis, eigenvalue buckling analysis, non-linear buckling analysis, and modal finite element analysis using ANSYS and NX Nastran.
• Develop test requirements to ensure adequate data for analysis correlation.Validate finite element analysis with hand calculations and test data.
• Review internal and external analyses.
• Work with responsible and systems engineers to define required material properties and part modifications to meet structural requirements.
• Write strength and stability margins to required program safety factors.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Master’s Degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or civil engineering and 2+ years of relevant experience, or 5+ years with a Bachelor’s Degree.
• Proficient with analytical simulation software and hand calculations for structural analysis.
• Familiarity with aerospace standard analysis methods.
• Ability to effectively work in a multi-discipline team and provide technical guidance and insight.
• Exceptional comprehension of first principles related to structures and materials.

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.