Orbital Mechanisms Engineer - Landing Gear & Flight Systems

Cowboy Space; San Carlos (CA); On-site; GBP 111,000 - 133,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Insurance (medical, dental, vision)

401(k)

Paid time off

Holidays (10)

Parental leave

Relocation assistance

Lunch in office

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corp. is seeking a Mechanisms Engineer to own a mechanism subsystem from concept to flight, coordinating with propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, and launch ops. You will design, analyze, test, and qualify mechanisms for ascent, entry, landing, and reuse, while iterating on hardware on the factory floor.

This hands-on role requires CAD and FEA expertise, with a strong foundation in structural mechanics, materials, and manufacturing processes. U.S.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience designing mechanisms or mechanical systems for flight vehicles or high-performance hardware.
• Experience taking hardware from concept through build, integration, and test.
• Strong fundamentals in structural mechanics, kinematics, materials, and manufacturing processes.
• Proficiency with CAD (NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, or Creo) and creating engineering drawings to ASME Y14.5 GD&T standards.
• Proficiency with FEA tools (ANSYS, Nastran, or Abaqus) for mechanism load-path and dynamic problems.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

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

Structural mechanics

Kinematics

Materials science

Manufacturing processes

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering or related field

Tools

CAD software

FEA tools

Job description

Cowboy Space Corp. is seeking a Mechanisms Engineer to own a mechanism subsystem from concept to flight, coordinating with propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, and launch ops. You will design, analyze, test, and qualify mechanisms for ascent, entry, landing, and reuse, while iterating on hardware on the factory floor.

This hands-on role requires CAD and FEA expertise, with a strong foundation in structural mechanics, materials, and manufacturing processes. U.S.