Lead Spacecraft Cargo Integration Engineer

Gravitics Inc; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Gravitics Inc is seeking an accomplished engineer to own cargo integration from initial vehicle layout through flight hardware and mission operations. You will lead a team to develop cargo architecture for both internal and external payloads, balancing packaging, CG, interfaces, and secondary structures to support the mission across environments.

You will collaborate across vehicle configuration, structures, avionics, thermal, operations, manufacturing, and mission teams to resolve conflicts and

Qualifications

• 5+ years of industry experience in mechanical, aerospace, or a related engineering discipline.
• Demonstrated ownership of complex mechanical or aerospace projects from concept through hardware delivery.
• Experience with spacecraft, aircraft, launch vehicle, or other complex vehicle packaging and mechanical integration.
• Strong mechanical design fundamentals, including structural load paths, joints, interfaces, and secondary structures.
• Knowledge of relevant structural environments including acceleration, pressure, vibration, shock, and thermal loading, and experience designing hardware for these environments.
• Experience performing first-order structural analysis and using finite element analysis to support detailed design.
• Experience developing and executing structural or mechanical verification test plans.
• Proficiency with CAD and engineering analysis tools such as NX and Simcenter 3D, or equivalent packages.
• Strong understanding and application of engineering drawing practices, GD& T, and ASME Y14.5.
• Ability to work effectively across structures, configuration, avionics, thermal, manufacturing, operations, and other engineering disciplines.
• Demonstrated ability to provide technical direction and lead a small team through an ambiguous, rapidly evolving design problem.
• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related technical field.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of the vehicle's cargo architecture and layout, including internally and externally mounted powered and passive cargo.
• Own cargo packaging and integration trades, balancing volume, mass, center of gravity, accessibility, structural load paths, thermal constraints, electrical interfaces, crew/operational considerations, and vehicle-level requirements.
• Define and manage cargo mechanical interfaces, keep-out zones, mounting provisions, and secondary structure.
• Lead a small engineering team through cargo layout, trade studies, detailed design, analysis, and hardware delivery.
• Work closely with vehicle configuration and other subsystem teams to resolve integration conflicts and drive the overall vehicle design toward closure.
• Design secondary structures, brackets, restraints, mounting provisions, and other hardware required to integrate cargo with the vehicle.
• Apply first-order hand calculations and empirical methods to rapidly assess concepts, understand load paths, and iterate designs.
• Build and evaluate finite element models to assess structural performance and demonstrate compliance with vehicle requirements.
• Design for relevant environments including pressure, acceleration, vibration, shock, thermal loading, and launch/landing loads.
• Create detailed component and assembly drawings with appropriate application of GD&T, tolerance analysis, and manufacturing requirements.
• Develop structural and integration test plans, support test execution, evaluate results, and generate verification reports.
• Work directly with suppliers and internal manufacturing teams to take hardware from design through production and vehicle integration.
• Own the schedule and budget for assigned cargo integration and structural hardware.
• Support manufacturing and integration by dispositioning non-conformances and resolving hardware issues quickly.
• Serve as the technical owner and subject-matter expert for the cargo system from initial concept through mission operations.

Skills

Mechanical design

Aerospace engineering

Finite element analysis

NX CAD

Simcenter 3D

GD&T

ASME Y14.5

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

System integration

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering

Tools

NX

Simcenter 3D

Job description

Gravitics Inc is seeking an accomplished engineer to own cargo integration from initial vehicle layout through flight hardware and mission operations. You will lead a team to develop cargo architecture for both internal and external payloads, balancing packaging, CG, interfaces, and secondary structures to support the mission across environments.

You will collaborate across vehicle configuration, structures, avionics, thermal, operations, manufacturing, and mission teams to resolve conflicts and