Flight Mechanisms Engineer - Hands-On Vehicle Hardware

Cowboy Space Corp.; United States; On-site; USD 74,000 - 114,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid time off

10 paid holidays per year

Paid parental leave

Relocation assistance

Daily lunch in the office

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corp. is seeking a Mechanisms Engineer to own a vehicle mechanism subsystem from concept through flight. You’ll collaborate with propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC and launch ops to design, build and validate integrated systems.

The role emphasizes hands‑on hardware development, rapid iteration on the factory floor, and ensuring performance under ascent, entry, landing, and reuse scenarios.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
• 1+ years of experience designing mechanisms or mechanical systems for flight vehicles or high‑performance hardware.
• Experience turning designs into physical hardware — built, assembled, and tested.
• Strong fundamentals in structural mechanics, kinematics, materials, and manufacturing.
• Proficiency with CAD tools and producing engineering drawings to GD&T standards.
• Working knowledge of FEA tools (ANSYS, Nastran, Abaqus).
• U.S. citizen or eligible for U.S. work authorization (per ITAR).

Responsibilities

• Own your mechanism subsystem from concept through design, analysis, test, and flight.
• Drive structural and kinematic design for minimum mass while meeting strength, stiffness, fatigue, and life requirements across ascent, entry, landing, and reuse.
• Balance performance, manufacturability, cost, and schedule in every design decision.
• Perform analysis — hand calculations, FEA, tolerance stack‑ups — and validate with test and flight data.
• Define and execute qualification and acceptance test campaigns; write procedures and acceptance criteria.
• Develop and maintain drawings, models, and release documentation.
• Work on the factory floor with manufacturing to iterate quickly and resolve build issues.
• Troubleshoot hardware anomalies, perform root cause analysis, and implement design improvements.
• Support launch operations, post‑flight inspection, and refurbishment planning.

Skills

Mechanisms design

Hardware testing

Structural mechanics

Kinematics

Manufacturing

GD&T knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

CATIA

Creo

ANSYS

Nastran

Abaqus

Job description

Cowboy Space Corp. is seeking a Mechanisms Engineer to own a vehicle mechanism subsystem from concept through flight. You’ll collaborate with propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC and launch ops to design, build and validate integrated systems.

The role emphasizes hands‑on hardware development, rapid iteration on the factory floor, and ensuring performance under ascent, entry, landing, and reuse scenarios.