Senior Mechanical Engineer – Rotary Actuators for Space Solar

Starpath Robotics Inc.; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision benefits

Retirement plans

Paid time off

Training & development

Job summary

Starpath Robotics Inc. is hiring a Senior Mechanical Engineer (Rotary Actuators) for the Starlight Solar team in the Hawthorne/Los Angeles area.

You will own the architecture, design, analysis, and qualification of mechanisms that deploy and orient space solar arrays, including drive assemblies, hinges, dampers, and gimbals. You will lead development from concept through flight qualification, mentor engineers, conduct trade studies, select components, and collaborate with electrical and controls

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related discipline.
• 6+ years of professional experience designing mechanisms, actuators, or precision mechanical systems.
• Demonstrated ownership of complex mechanical hardware from concept through build and test.
• Experience designing rotary mechanisms such as actuators, gearboxes, gimbals, hinges, deployment systems, or drive assemblies.
• Strong understanding of motors, gear reductions, bearings, lubrication, friction, backlash, stiffness, and mechanism life.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD and the ability to produce detailed engineering drawings using GD&T.
• Experience performing mechanical analysis using hand calculations and FEA.
• Hands-on experience building, testing, troubleshooting, and improving mechanical hardware.
• Ability to make sound technical decisions with incomplete information and communicate tradeoffs clearly.
• Evidence of exceptional engineering ability.

Responsibilities

• Own rotary actuator and mechanism designs from architecture through detailed design, analysis, build, qualification, and flight
• Establish mechanism requirements and translate system-level needs into practical hardware architectures
• Lead technical trade studies covering performance, mass, reliability, manufacturability, cost, and schedule
• Select and integrate motors, gearheads, bearings, slip rings, brakes, dampers, and position sensors
• Size drivetrains for torque, speed, stiffness, backlash, pointing accuracy, jitter, duty cycle, and mission life
• Perform and review torque-margin, friction, structural, thermal, backlash, life, and tolerance analyses using hand calculations and FEA
• Develop lubrication, materials, surface-treatment, preload, and wear-control strategies for vacuum and thermal-cycling environments
• Define qualification and acceptance-test programs covering functional performance, life, vibration, shock, thermal vacuum, and torque margin
• Lead mechanism design reviews, failure investigations, risk-reduction efforts, and corrective actions
• Partner with electrical, controls, and avionics engineers on motor-drive electronics, feedback sensing, fault response, and closed-loop actuator control
• Work with manufacturing and suppliers to develop assembly, alignment, inspection, and production processes for precision rotating hardware
• Identify critical technical risks early and build focused development tests to resolve them- Mentor engineers and establish sound mechanism-design and verification practices across the team
• Simplify designs, reduce part count, and eliminate complexity that does not improve performance or reliability

Skills

Mechanisms design

Rotary actuators

3D CAD

GD&T

FEA

Mechanical testing

Spacecraft hardware

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering

Advanced degree (preferred)

Tools

Brushless DC motors

Harmonic drives

Planetary gearheads

Precision bearings

Position sensors

Slip rings

Job description

Starpath Robotics Inc. is hiring a Senior Mechanical Engineer (Rotary Actuators) for the Starlight Solar team in the Hawthorne/Los Angeles area.

You will own the architecture, design, analysis, and qualification of mechanisms that deploy and orient space solar arrays, including drive assemblies, hinges, dampers, and gimbals. You will lead development from concept through flight qualification, mentor engineers, conduct trade studies, select components, and collaborate with electrical and controls