Launch Vehicle Systems Engineer

Approach Venture; Alameda (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and paid sick leave

Equity opportunity

Professional development support

Job summary

Approach Venture in Alameda, CA is seeking a Lead Systems Engineer to own the launch vehicle architecture and lead cross-disciplinary design efforts. You will define system-level requirements, manage trades across structures, flight dynamics, and propulsion, and guide integration through development, testing, and flight.

Your hands-on leadership will drive rigidity and coherence across subsystems, ensuring vehicle-level performance and robust validation under extreme environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of experience designing and developing aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability engineering systems.
• Demonstrated experience owning complex systems through design, integration, testing, and validation.
• Strong expertise in structural design, flight dynamics and guidance, or thermal system integration.
• Working knowledge across multiple engineering disciplines with the ability to evaluate system-level tradeoffs.
• Experience performing structural analysis using NASTRAN, Abaqus, or similar finite element analysis tools.
• Experience developing hardware for demanding operating environments involving high loads, high speeds, or extreme thermal conditions.
• Strong technical communication and systems engineering documentation skills.
• Ability to work on-site in Alameda, California, with occasional travel to test locations.
• U.S. Person status required due to export control regulations.

Responsibilities

• Own the overall vehicle architecture and ensure all major subsystems function as an integrated flight system.
• Define vehicle-level requirements including mass properties, packaging, interfaces, power allocation, and system constraints.
• Lead system design trades across structures, aerodynamics, thermal protection, guidance, navigation and control, propulsion, and avionics.
• Develop structural architectures and support finite element analysis for critical flight load cases.
• Define mechanical and structural interfaces between the vehicle and launch systems.
• Lead vehicle stability analysis, flight dynamics, and system-level guidance, navigation, and control integration.
• Develop and maintain mass budgets, center of gravity analyses, and vehicle performance models.
• Define thermal protection system requirements and coordinate subsystem integration.
• Establish interface requirements for avionics, propulsion, and other engineering disciplines.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop and integrated system validation activities.
• Participate in vehicle testing, troubleshooting, and design iteration throughout development.
• Document system architecture, interface definitions, engineering trade studies, and verification activities.
• Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary engineering teams to ensure successful vehicle integration.

Skills

Technical communication

Systems engineering docs

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

NASTRAN

Abaqus

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Lead Systems Engineer - Own the Architecture of an Advanced Launch Vehicle

Alameda, California | On-site

Opportunity Summary

Join a venture-backed aerospace startup developing a new launch platform designed to lower the cost of delivering payloads to orbit. The company is solving complex engineering challenges across structures, aerodynamics, thermal protection, guidance, and vehicle integration to develop a flight system capable of operating in extreme environments.

As the Lead Systems Engineer, you will serve as the technical owner of the launch vehicle, ensuring every subsystem functions together as a complete system. This role is responsible for defining system architecture, establishing vehicle-level requirements, managing critical design trades, and guiding integration across structures, flight dynamics, thermal systems, avionics, and propulsion. You will work hands-on throughout development, supporting everything from early design through testing and flight.

About Us

We are an early-stage aerospace company developing advanced launch technologies through rapid hardware development and first-principles engineering. Backed by venture funding and supported by an experienced technical team, we build and test hardware quickly while giving engineers broad ownership across the products they develop. Every engineer has a direct impact on technical decisions and the future direction of the company.

Job Duties

• Own the overall vehicle architecture and ensure all major subsystems function as an integrated flight system


• Define vehicle-level requirements including mass properties, packaging, interfaces, power allocation, and system constraints


• Lead system design trades across structures, aerodynamics, thermal protection, guidance, navigation and control, propulsion, and avionics


• Develop structural architectures and support finite element analysis for critical flight load cases


• Define mechanical and structural interfaces between the vehicle and launch systems


• Lead vehicle stability analysis, flight dynamics, and system-level guidance, navigation, and control integration


• Develop and maintain mass budgets, center of gravity analyses, and vehicle performance models


• Define thermal protection system requirements and coordinate subsystem integration


• Establish interface requirements for avionics, propulsion, and other engineering disciplines


• Support hardware-in-the-loop and integrated system validation activities


• Participate in vehicle testing, troubleshooting, and design iteration throughout development


• Document system architecture, interface definitions, engineering trade studies, and verification activities


• Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary engineering teams to ensure successful vehicle integration

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline


• 5+ years of experience designing and developing aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability engineering systems


• Demonstrated experience owning complex systems through design, integration, testing, and validation


• Strong expertise in at least one of the following areas: structural design, flight dynamics and guidance, or thermal system integration


• Working knowledge across multiple engineering disciplines with the ability to evaluate system-level tradeoffs


• Experience performing structural analysis using NASTRAN, Abaqus, or similar finite element analysis tools


• Experience developing hardware for demanding operating environments involving high loads, high speeds, or extreme thermal conditions


• Strong technical communication and systems engineering documentation skills


• Ability to work on-site in Alameda, California, with occasional travel to test locations


• U.S. Person status required due to export control regulations

Preferred Experience

• Experience with hypersonic, high-speed, or atmospheric flight vehicles


• Guidance, navigation, and control development including 6-DOF modeling and flight stability analysis


• Composite structure design and manufacturing


• Experience translating aerodynamic or CFD analysis into structural design requirements


• Hardware development for high-shock, high-vibration, or other harsh operating environments


• Experience developing integrated vehicle verification and validation plans


• Python or MATLAB for engineering analysis, simulation, or design automation


• Master's or PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline

Why Join Us

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance


• 401(k) with company match


• Paid time off and paid sick leave


• Equity opportunity


• Professional development support


• Structured onboarding and integration program


• Broad ownership over vehicle architecture with the opportunity to influence technical direction from concept through flight


• Small, experienced engineering team focused on solving challenging aerospace problems through rapid development and testing

Compensation Details

$180,000 - $210,000