Senior Mechanical Engineering Leader — Spacecraft & Launch

Firefly Aerospace; Town of Texas (WI); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Educational reimbursement

Parental leave

Short term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace is seeking a Mechanical Engineering Deputy Director to provide technical leadership for the mechanical, architectural, and structural design and analysis of launch vehicles and spacecraft. This role ensures rigorous engineering standards, sound decision-making, and disciplined execution across structures, loads & dynamics, and integrated systems.

The Deputy Director will partner with the Director of Mechanical Engineering and program leadership to support development, test,

Qualifications

• B.S. in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related engineering field.
• 10+ years of experience in mechanical and/or structural design, analysis, and qualification for aerospace systems.
• Demonstrated experience owning technical decisions, design reviews, change control, and NCR/RCCA disposition.
• Deep understanding of FEM/FEA and classical hand analysis and verification methods.
• Structural mechanics and load paths, materials and fracture mechanics.
• Loads and Dynamic Analysis and testing.
• Configuration control and compliance evidence.
• Experience with composite manufacturing methods and material selection.

Responsibilities

• Serve as technical authority and approver for mechanical hardware decisions, including design changes, ECOs/CRs, and release packages; ensure trades, assumptions, analyses, and test data are technically sound and defensible.
• Lead and arbitrate cross-disciplinary technical trades impacting vehicle performance, reliability, manufacturability, and certification.
• Own mechanical and structural requirements, verification methods, compliance evidence, and acceptance criteria.
• Guide and approve analysis methodologies and reports, including FEA, classical hand calculations, margins philosophy, loads & dynamics, and test correlation.
• Drive hardware development and qualification test definition, standards, and guidelines.
• Provide technical oversight of test operations, including test readiness reviews and evaluation of test plans for thoroughness, quality, and adherence to applicable standards.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Reliability/Quality, and Program teams to resolve integration, build, and production issues and ensure integration-ready hardware.
• Maintain engineering rigor through change activity, NCRs, RCCAs, and anomaly investigations.
• Continuous Improvement & Engineering Standards: ensure lessons learned and test findings are incorporated into future standards and designs.
• Technical Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration: mentor engineering teams and collaborate to optimize workflow.

Skills

FEM/FEA

Loads & dynamics

Structural mechanics

Materials & fracture mechanics

3D CAD (Siemens NX)

ANSYS/Nastran/FEMAP

Scripting basics

Technical leadership

Education

B.S. in Aerospace/Mechanical

MS/PhD preferred

Tools

Siemens NX

ANSYS

Nastran

FEMAP

Job description

Firefly Aerospace is seeking a Mechanical Engineering Deputy Director to provide technical leadership for the mechanical, architectural, and structural design and analysis of launch vehicles and spacecraft. This role ensures rigorous engineering standards, sound decision-making, and disciplined execution across structures, loads & dynamics, and integrated systems.

The Deputy Director will partner with the Director of Mechanical Engineering and program leadership to support development, test,