Senior Spacecraft Structures Engineer – Deployables

Star Catcher; Jacksonville (FL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Life insurance

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Star Catcher is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Structures Engineer in Jacksonville, FL to lead the structural architecture of spacecraft and oversee FEA, verification, and launch interface definition. You will coordinate across mechanical, optical, thermal, and manufacturing teams to ensure robust design and successful qualification.

Qualifications include 10+ years in spacecraft structural design, leadership experience, and strong Ansys Mechanical skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical, structural, or aerospace engineering and at least ten years of spacecraft structural design experience.
• Experience leading space systems development from concept through qualification and flight.
• Experience performing and reviewing structural analysis in Ansys Mechanical across static, modal, random vibration, and shock load cases.
• Familiarity with NASA-STD-5001 margin of safety reporting and NASA-STD-5019 fracture control.

Responsibilities

• Own the structural architecture of the spacecraft, including primary structure and deployable configurations.
• Define design and verification criteria, margins of safety, and load case definitions.
• Direct finite element modeling and analysis and review models before release.
• Own structural-thermal-optical performance of precision assemblies and coordinate with optics/thermal teams.
• Lead vibration test campaigns from planning to model correlation.

Skills

Spacecraft design

Finite element analysis

Leadership

Vibration testing

Launch vehicle interfaces

Problem solving

Python scripting

Education

Bachelor's in mechanical/structural/aerospace engineering

Master's or PhD (preferred)

Tools

Ansys Mechanical

Autodesk Inventor

APDL scripting

Job description

Star Catcher is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Structures Engineer in Jacksonville, FL to lead the structural architecture of spacecraft and oversee FEA, verification, and launch interface definition. You will coordinate across mechanical, optical, thermal, and manufacturing teams to ensure robust design and successful qualification.

Qualifications include 10+ years in spacecraft structural design, leadership experience, and strong Ansys Mechanical skills.