Senior Payload & Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer

Firefly Aerospace, Inc.; Cedar Park (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision plans

Parental leave

Relocation benefits

Educational reimbursement

Short term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is seeking a Payload Engineer III to lead the design, analysis, development, and qualification of payload hardware and spacecraft interfaces for the Alpha Launch Vehicle.

You will own the hardware lifecycle from concept through qualification, partnering with customers to translate mission requirements into robust, flight-ready solutions. Join a team performing high-visibility work on launch vehicles and spacecraft, with opportunities to mentor junior engineers, work

Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace engineering or related field.
• 6+ years designing, analyzing, and qualifying hardware for aerospace/high-reliability systems.
• Experience with flight-critical structures or mechanisms.
• Experience designing for extreme environments (vibration, shock, vacuum).
• Proficiency with carbon fiber and metallic structures; strong tolerance analysis.

Responsibilities

• Develop and own payload segment hardware and spacecraft interfaces for customers to achieve orbit delivery.
• Create and manage hardware definitions using CAD drawings and documentation.
• Perform and guide detailed structural, thermal, and tolerance analyses.
• Lead qualification and acceptance testing for payload hardware and interfaces.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain to ensure producibility and flight readiness.
• Provide mentorship and act as SME in customer interface meetings.

Skills

FEA

Mechanical design

Aerospace experience

Scripting/Programming

Customer-facing

Education

B.S. in Mechanical/Aerospace engineering

M.S./PhD in Mechanical/Aerospace or 8+ years experience

Tools

ANSYS / Femap

Job description

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is seeking a Payload Engineer III to lead the design, analysis, development, and qualification of payload hardware and spacecraft interfaces for the Alpha Launch Vehicle.

You will own the hardware lifecycle from concept through qualification, partnering with customers to translate mission requirements into robust, flight-ready solutions. Join a team performing high-visibility work on launch vehicles and spacecraft, with opportunities to mentor junior engineers, work