Launch Vehicle Mechanisms Engineer III

Firefly Aerospace, Inc.

Cedar Park (TX)

On-site

USD 90,000 - 140,000

Full time

8 hours ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Mental health services

Parental leave

Educational reimbursement

Stock bonuses

401(k) with matching

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is seeking a Launch Vehicle Mechanisms Engineer III to lead the design, analysis, development, and qualification of moving mechanical assemblies for launch vehicle programs. You will provide technical leadership across the mechanism lifecycle, defining motion and delivering a flight-ready product.

The role requires B.S. in Mechanical/Aerospace, 6+ years in aerospace mechanisms, and hands-on CAD/FEA work.

Qualifications

B.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering field.
6+ years of experience designing, analyzing, and qualifying mechanical mechanisms for aerospace or high-reliability systems.
Experience with flight-critical mechanisms such as separation systems, deployment mechanisms, actuators, latches, hinges, springs, and release devices.
M.S. or PhD in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related discipline or 8+ years of experience.

Responsibilities

Develop and produce moving mechanical assemblies to meet mission requirements.
Create and manage hardware definition through CAD and drawings.
Perform and guide detailed analysis including margins, fatigue, wear, and dynamics of moving systems.
Lead qualification and acceptance testing of mechanisms across programs.

Skills

Mechanical design

Aerospace engineering

Kinematics

Tribology

FEA

Education

B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering

MS/PhD or 8+ years experience

Tools

CAD software

FEM/FEA tools

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?
...

Peep our Elytra orbiter being assembled in the ...

Start your week with another Manufacturing Minute! ...

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

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

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 that enables our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the only commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24‑hour notice and the only company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE

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 passiona... ...

SUMMARY

The Launch Vehicle Mechanisms Engineer III is responsible for the design, analysis, development, and qualification of moving mechanical assemblies for launch vehicle programs. This role provides technical leadership across the full lifecycle of mechanisms such as stage separation systems, deployment mechanisms, hold-down and release systems, and other flight‑critical moving assemblies. This requires both technical and artistic aspects to be able to define the motion of a piece of hardware and then push theory into a functional product through detailed analysis and documentation.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Individual contribution and teamwork as the technical owner to develop and produce moving mechanical assemblies that meet the requirements to accomplish the goal of supporting launch vehicle missions.
Create and manage hardware definition though CAD and drawings.
Perform and/or guide detailed analysis including structural margins, fatigue, contact, wear, thermal effects, tolerance stack-ups, and dynamics of moving systems.
Build confidence and reliability through documentation.
Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams to ensure mechanisms integrate seamlessly with structures, avionics, propulsion, and operations.
Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain to ensure mechanisms are producible, inspectable, and flight‑ready.
Support build, integration, and acceptance activities, resolving fit, function, and performance issues to ensure a successful product.
Lead development, qualification, and acceptance testing of mechanisms, including component‑subassembly‑and system‑level tests.
Provide technical mentorship to junior engineers, elevating mechanism design quality.
Act as a subject‑matter expert for mechanisms across programs and projects.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

B.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering field.
6+ years of experience designing, analyzing, and qualifying mechanical mechanisms for aerospace or high‑reliability systems.
Demonstrated experience with flight‑critical mechanisms such as separation systems, deployment mechanisms, actuators, latches, hinges, springs, and release devices.
Strong understanding of kinematics, tribology, tolerance analysis, lubrication, and wear in aerospace environments.
Experience designing and testing for extreme environments including vibration, shock, thermal cycling, vacuum, and cryogenic conditions.
Proficiency with FEA or classical hand calculations methods to evaluate strength, stiffness, and fatigue.
Experience supporting production builds, resolving nonconformances, and improving producibility.
Experience defining qualification and acceptance test programs and interpreting test data.
Proven ability to make sound, defensible engineering decisions under schedule and program constraints.
M.S. or PhD in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related discipline or 8+ years of experience designing, analyzing, and qualifying mechanical mechanisms for aerospace or high‑reliability systems.
Experience with launch vehicle or spacecraft programs from development through qualified flight.
Experience driving hardware from a test through successful product.
Experience with design and qualification of separation systems.
Experience with shock mitigation strategies.
Proven history of successful mechanisms with high lifecycle counts and minimal refurbishment.
Familiarity with scripting or programming for analysis, automation, or data reduction.
Working knowledge of AIAA S-114, NASA 5017b, SMS-S016, NASA 5020, GEVS

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.

Primary Level Salary Range:

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