Mechanical Engineer

GRU Space (YC W26); San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A pioneering aerospace company in San Francisco is seeking a hardware engineer to lead the mechanical design of a lunar payload set to land on the Moon. You will take ownership from concept to flight, rapidly prototyping and testing designs while collaborating with external providers. Ideal candidates will have deep CAD and FEA expertise, as well as experience with spaceflight hardware. Join us in advancing humanity's interplanetary ambitions.

Qualifications

• Proficient in mechanical design with experience in aerospace.
• Experience managing interfaces with external providers.
• Able to run and interpret structural analysis.
• Use of AI tools daily to boost output.
• Prior flight hardware experience.

Responsibilities

• Design the lunar payload hardware from concept to flight.
• Prototype and test designs, iterating rapidly.
• Manage communication with the lunar lander provider.
• Run and interpret structural/mechanism analysis to support design trades.

Skills

Deep fluency with CAD

Experience with FEA tools

Designing spaceflight hardware

Using AI tools

Portfolio of work

Tools

CAD software

Simulation tools

Job description

Your product will land on the Moon next year.

You’ll design, build, and test our 2027 Lunar Payload: the one that manufactures humanity’s first bricks on the Moon and deploys an inflatable habitat bladder. This is hands‑on, full‑lifecycle hardware engineering at a pace most aerospace companies can’t keep up with.

What You’ll Do

• Own the mechanical design of the payload from concept through flight hardware.
• Rapidly prototype, test, break things, and iterate.
• Manage ICD with the lunar lander provider and be the primary point of contact.
• Run and interpret structural/mechanism analysis to support design trades.

What We’re Looking For

• Deep fluency with CAD and FEA tools: you think in 3D and can back it up with analysis.
• Experience designing spaceflight hardware end-to-end (build, test, deploy).
• Comfort with mechanisms: actuators, seals, deployables, pressure systems, end effectors, and more.
• You’re using the latest AI tools every day (i.e., Opus 4.6/GPT 5.4, in appropriate harness) to massively increase your output and do things you otherwise couldn’t.
• You’ve built flight hardware before.

If you want to maximize the probability that humanity becomes interplanetary in your lifetime, apply and share a portfolio of the technical work you’re most proud of.