Senior Mechanisms Engineer

Socket.dev; San Carlos (CA); On-site; USD 152,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) retirement savings plan

Paid time off

10 paid holidays per year

Paid parental leave

Relocation assistance if applicable

Daily lunch in the office

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corp. in San Carlos, CA, is seeking a Senior Mechanisms Engineer to lead gimbal mechanism development for laser communications payloads.

You will own the full lifecycle from concept through flight qualification, designing precision assemblies with bearings, motors, encoders, and structural members. This role requires hands-on lab work, mechanism analysis, and collaboration with optical, laser, controls, and systems teams to meet stringent performance budgets and space-environment

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience designing and developing precision mechanisms for flight hardware in aerospace or defense programs.
• Demonstrated experience as the technical owner of end-to-end mechanism development including design, analysis, procurement, integration, and test.
• Proficiency in 3D CAD (NX, Solidworks, or equivalent) and engineering drawing/GD&T.
• Experience with mechanism analysis including kinematics, stiffness, torque margin, and bearing life calculations.
• Hands-on experience with flight mechanism integration, alignment, and functional testing in a lab environment.
• Familiarity with precision components including angular contact bearings, brushless DC motors, and optical encoders.
• Experience taking flight mechanisms through environmental qualification (vibration, shock, thermal-vacuum)

Responsibilities

• Own the full development lifecycle of gimbal mechanisms for laser communications payloads, from concept through flight qualification.
• Design precision gimbal assemblies, including bearings, flexures, motors, encoders, and structural members.
• Perform mechanism-level analysis including kinematics, stiffness, backlash, torque margin, thermal expansion, and bearing life modeling.
• Define mechanism performance requirements and interface specifications in coordination with optical and controls teams.
• Specify and procure precision components including bearings, motors, encoders, and custom machined parts; own supplier relationships and acceptance testing.
• Develop and execute integration and verification procedures for flight hardware.
• Define and execute qualification test plans including functional testing, life testing, vibration, shock, and thermal-vacuum.
• Develop and maintain mechanism drawings, GD&T specifications, assembly procedures, and test reports.
• Collaborate with controls engineers to support mechanism characterization and closed-loop performance validation.
• Participate in design reviews and contribute to system-level pointing and tracking trade studies

Skills

3D CAD (NX/SolidWorks)

GD&T drawings

mechanism analysis

flight hardware integration

bearing life calculations

torque margin calculations

lab testing

precision bearings/motors/encoders

Education

Bachelor's in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Master's in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Tools

NX / SolidWorks

Job description

About Cowboy Space Corp:

Mission

Cowboy Space Corporation is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient space-based solar energy. We are tackling one of humanity’s most complex engineering challenges with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Cowboy Space Corporation is transforming how civilization powers, computes and connects - from orbit to Earth.

Background

Cowboy Space Corporation is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our modular, scalable satellites collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit to enable multiple integrated applications: transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit high-performance computing clusters (GPU/TPU), and providing secure, high bandwidth optical data transport.

Current energy and data systems rely on complex logistics and outdated infrastructure. Cowboy Space Corporation overcomes these challenges by enabling direct, on-demand, secure, and scalable energy distribution and data processing from space. This will revolutionize how we operate in orbit and on Earth, supporting the rapidly expanding space industrial base, ISAM (In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing) operations, remote regions, and military bases.

Baiju Bhatt founded Cowboy Space Corporation in 2024. Inspired by his father’s work with NASA Langley Research Center, Baiju earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Mathematics at Stanford before co-founding Robinhood, now a public company that has helped over 20 million Americans access the financial system. Cowboy Space Corporation has raised ~$365 million from Index Ventures, Interlagos, Construct Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and others.

This is an ambitious mission that demands extraordinary talent. Cowboy Space Corporation ’s team has worked at places like SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis and NASA, and is based in San Carlos, CA. If you're ready to solve complex technical challenges and help build the most important energy company in the world, we want to hear from you.

About the Role

The Payload Mechanical team is looking for a Senior Mechanisms Engineer to act as the responsible engineer for gimbal mechanism development on our laser communications payloads. The ideal candidate is a self-motivated expert with a versatile skill set and deep hands-on experience with flight mechanisms for high-reliability space systems, comfortable driving everything from conceptual design and performance budgeting to precision component procurement and rigorous hardware execution. This role spans concept development, mechanical design, analysis, procurement, integration, and qualification of precision pointing and tracking mechanisms for flight. You will work closely with optical, laser, controls, and systems engineers to deliver flight-ready gimbals that meet demanding performance and reliability requirements. Previous experience driving end-to-end development of precision flight mechanisms, managing stringent performance budgets, and qualifying hardware for space environments in a fast-paced environment is required.

Responsibilities:

• Own the full development lifecycle of gimbal mechanisms for laser communications payloads, from concept through flight qualification
• Design precision gimbal assemblies, including bearings, flexures, motors, encoders, and structural members
• Perform mechanism-level analysis including kinematics, stiffness, backlash, torque margin, thermal expansion, and bearing life modeling
• Define mechanism performance requirements and interface specifications in coordination with optical and controls teams
• Specify and procure precision components including bearings, motors, encoders, and custom machined parts; own supplier relationships and acceptance testing
• Develop and execute integration and verification procedures for flight hardware
• Define and execute qualification test plans including functional testing, life testing, vibration, shock, and thermal-vacuum
• Develop and maintain mechanism drawings, GD&T specifications, assembly procedures, and test reports
• Collaborate with controls engineers to support mechanism characterization and closed-loop performance validation
• Participate in design reviews and contribute to system-level pointing and tracking trade studies

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field
• 5+ years of experience designing and developing precision mechanisms for flight hardware in aerospace or defense programs
• Demonstrated experience as the technical owner of end-to-end mechanism development including design, analysis, procurement, integration, and test
• Proficiency in 3D CAD (NX, Solidworks, or equivalent) and engineering drawing/GD&T
• Experience with mechanism analysis including kinematics, stiffness, torque margin, and bearing life calculations
• Hands-on experience with flight mechanism integration, alignment, and functional testing in a lab environment
• Familiarity with precision components including angular contact bearings, brushless DC motors, and optical encoders
• Experience taking flight mechanisms through environmental qualification (vibration, shock, thermal-vacuum)

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering
• 8+ years of experience in precision flight mechanism development for space or defense programs
• Experience designing gimbal mechanisms for laser communications, optical payloads, or antenna pointing systems
• Familiarity with fast steering mirrors or other precision beam-pointing devices
• Experience with mechanism lubrication strategies for space environments
• Familiarity with closed-loop control of gimbal mechanisms and interaction with pointing error budgets
• Experience with life and wear testing and reliability analysis for space mechanisms
• Hands-on experience building and qualifying flight hardware in a cleanroom environment

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $152,000 - $220,000 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
• Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Paid time off
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year
• Paid parental leave
• Relocation assistance if applicable
• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

Disclaimer

This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.

Cowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.