Mechanisms Engineer - Flight Hardware Ownership & Impact

Cowboy Space Corp.; San Carlos (CA); 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 savings 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 will work across propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, and launch operations to design, build, and validate integrated systems, with hands‑on hardware responsibility from day one. The role emphasizes fast iteration, cross‑functional collaboration, and delivering reliable mechanisms for ascent to reuse environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field.
• 1+ years designing mechanisms or mechanical systems for flight vehicles or high‑performance hardware.

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 environments.
• 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 criteria.
• Develop and maintain engineering drawings, models, and release documentation.
• Work on the factory floor with manufacturing to iterate quickly and resolve build issues.
• Troubleshoot hardware issues, perform root cause analysis, and implement design improvements.
• Support launch operations, post‑flight inspection, and refurbishment planning.

Skills

Structural mechanics

Kinematics

Materials

Manufacturing processes

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering

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 will work across propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, and launch operations to design, build, and validate integrated systems, with hands‑on hardware responsibility from day one. The role emphasizes fast iteration, cross‑functional collaboration, and delivering reliable mechanisms for ascent to reuse environments.