Mechanisms Engineer I — Flight Hardware Innovator

Cowboy Space Corporation; Seattle (WA); 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 calendar year

Paid parental leave

Relocation assistance

Daily lunch in the office and snacks

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corp. in Seattle seeks a Mechanisms Engineer to own a vehicle mechanism subsystem from concept through flight, collaborating with propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, and launch ops to design, build, and validate hardware.

You will iterate on separation systems, landing gear, aero control surfaces, or electromechanical actuators, with a hands-on role on the factory floor and a focus on weight, strength, and reliability for ascent, entry, landing, and reuse.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• 1+ years' experience designing mechanisms for flight vehicles or high-performance hardware.
• Experience turning mechanical designs into physical hardware – built, assembled and tested.

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 operational-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 predictions with test and flight data.
• Define and execute qualification and acceptance test campaigns; author procedures, acceptance criteria, and anomaly dispositions.
• Develop and maintain engineering drawings, models, and release documentation.
• Work directly on the factory floor with manufacturing to iterate quickly and resolve build issues in real time.
• Troubleshoot hardware anomalies, perform root cause analysis, and implement design improvements.
• Support launch operations, post-flight inspection, and refurbishment planning.

Skills

CAD software

Mechanical design

Problem solving

Finite element analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

CATIA

Creo

ANSYS

Nastran

Abaqus

Job description

Cowboy Space Corp. in Seattle seeks a Mechanisms Engineer to own a vehicle mechanism subsystem from concept through flight, collaborating with propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, and launch ops to design, build, and validate hardware.

You will iterate on separation systems, landing gear, aero control surfaces, or electromechanical actuators, with a hands-on role on the factory floor and a focus on weight, strength, and reliability for ascent, entry, landing, and reuse.