Senior Mechanical Engineer - Hypersonic Vehicle Systems

0090 CORP-Corporate Office; United States; On-site; USD 111,700 - 167,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Paid time off

Job summary

NorthropGrumman is seeking a senior mechanical engineer to join our hypersonic vehicle development team. You will define the mechanical layout, coordinate interfaces, and oversee 3D models and drawings across subsystems to ensure producibility and testability.

The role requires 8+ years of mechanical/structural experience, FEA proficiency, and CAD expertise (NX/CATIA/Creo). Eligible candidates must be a U.S. citizen with a Top Secret clearance and willing to travel up to 25%.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related STEM field.
• 5+ years of relevant structural analysis or design experience.
• 3+ years of experience performing finite element analysis (FEA) using industry tools (e.g., NASTRAN, Abaqus, ANSYS).
• 3+ years of experience generating and checking stress reports, margins of safety, and load paths for primary and secondary structures.
• 3+ years of experience with classical hand calculations (beam/plate theory, bolted and bonded joints, stability, fatigue/fracture basics).
• 3+ years of experience interpreting loads and environments and applying them in structural models.
• 3+ years of experience performing air vehicle dynamic structural assessments (Shock and Vibe).
• 5+ years of experience with CAD and pre/post-processing tools (NX, CATIA, Creo, HyperMesh, Femap).
• Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the overall mechanical layout for the vehicle and major subsystems (structures, TPS hardware, mechanisms, payload, avionics packaging).
• Coordinate mass properties, interfaces, access, and maintainability across the configuration.
• Oversee creation and release of mechanical designs, 3D models, and drawings in collaboration with the design/drafting team.
• Ensure interfaces between subsystems are clearly defined, controlled, and compatible (mechanical, thermal, alignment, envelope).
• Resolve mechanical integration issues among aerothermal, TPS, structures, GNC, propulsion, and avionics components.
• Translate system requirements into clear mechanical requirements, constraints, and design criteria (environments, loads, clearances, margins, materials).
• Work with systems engineering to maintain requirements traceability and define mechanical verification methods (analysis, inspection, test).
• Collaborate with manufacturing and operations to ensure designs are producible, testable, and supportable.
• Support build and integration on the factory floor (build issues, nonconformance disposition, redlines).
• Provide technical direction to mechanical suppliers (requirements, reviews, deviations, acceptance).
• Plan and coordinate mechanical engineering work across a small team (tasking, priorities, schedules).
• Review and approve design work products, ensuring consistency with program standards and best practices.
• Mentor junior engineers and foster strong communication across disciplines and IPTs.

Skills

Mechanical design coordination

Finite element analysis

System requirements traceability

Cross-functional collaboration

Documentation and reporting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

NX

CATIA

Creo

HyperMesh

Femap

Job description

NorthropGrumman is seeking a senior mechanical engineer to join our hypersonic vehicle development team. You will define the mechanical layout, coordinate interfaces, and oversee 3D models and drawings across subsystems to ensure producibility and testability.

The role requires 8+ years of mechanical/structural experience, FEA proficiency, and CAD expertise (NX/CATIA/Creo). Eligible candidates must be a U.S. citizen with a Top Secret clearance and willing to travel up to 25%.