Senior Mechanical Systems Engineer, Spacecraft & Robotics

Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Pasadena (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 216,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plans

Paid time off

Job summary

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California is seeking a Senior Mechanical Systems Engineer to lead hardware development for payloads, instruments, and spacecraft across all mission phases, including requirements, interfaces, and V&V plans, and to produce key engineering artifacts for flight operations.

You will guide multidisciplinary teams, mentor engineers, and present major technical decisions to management, while supporting cost and schedule estimation in a high-stakes aerospace

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related technical discipline with extensive experience in mechanical systems for spaceflight or similarly complex environments.
• Experience translating mission needs into system architectures and requirements.
• Ability to lead critical reviews and plan tasks, schedules, and multi-team coordination.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical hardware development for payloads, instruments, and spacecraft across all mission phases.
• Approve requirements, interfaces, V&V plans, and engineering data packages.
• Mentor engineers and coordinate multidisciplinary teams to address technical challenges.
• Present system status and major decisions to management and partners.

Skills

Mechanical engineering

Technical leadership

System architecture

V&V planning

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

NX CAD

SolidWorks

Teamcenter

FEA

Job description

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California is seeking a Senior Mechanical Systems Engineer to lead hardware development for payloads, instruments, and spacecraft across all mission phases, including requirements, interfaces, and V&V plans, and to produce key engineering artifacts for flight operations.

You will guide multidisciplinary teams, mentor engineers, and present major technical decisions to management, while supporting cost and schedule estimation in a high-stakes aerospace