Senior Structures & Composites Engineer: Rocket Motor Cases

STEM Boomerang; Rio Rancho (NM); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee equity

Four weeks paid time off

Medical: 100% employee coverage

Dental & Vision 90% employee coverage

401k retirement plan

Meals & catering

Snacks & beverages

$100 monthly fitness stipend

EV charging on-site

Job summary

Castelion seeks a Senior Structures & Composites Engineer to design and deliver high-performance rocket motor cases for long-range hypersonic strike vehicles. You will work hands-on with multidisciplinary teams to design, analyze, build, and validate composite and metallic motor case structures in a fast-paced, hardware-driven environment.

The role requires a strong background in aerospace structural design and advanced composite materials, with experience in pressure vessels, COPVs, and

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in structural and composite design for aerospace or high-performance pressure vessel applications.
• Strong background in composite materials, including filament winding, laminate theory, and failure criteria (Tsai-Wu, Hashin).
• Experience designing pressure vessels, COPVs, or rocket motor cases for high-pressure applications.
• Proficiency in structural analysis tools (ANSYS, Abaqus, NASTRAN or equivalent).
• Familiarity with manufacturing processes for composites, including winding, curing, and inspection methods (e.g., NDI/NDT).
• Experience with proof/burst testing and structural validation of pressure vessels.
• Experience with hardware build, test, and troubleshooting in a lab or production environment.
• Strong problem-solving mindset, thriving in a fast-paced, hardware-rich, high test cadence environment.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver high-performance rocket motor cases for long-range hypersonic vehicles.
• Analyze and validate composite and metallic motor case structures.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams in a hardware-driven environment.
• Lead testing and troubleshooting of motor cases in lab or production settings.

Skills

Structural design

Composite materials

Filament winding

Laminate theory

Tsai-Wu/Hashin criteria

Pressure vessels/COPVs

Finite element analysis

NDI/NDT

Hardware testing

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering

Master's degree in relevant field

PhD in relevant field (advantageous)

Tools

ANSYS

Abaqus

NASTRAN

NDI/NDT

Job description

Castelion seeks a Senior Structures & Composites Engineer to design and deliver high-performance rocket motor cases for long-range hypersonic strike vehicles. You will work hands-on with multidisciplinary teams to design, analyze, build, and validate composite and metallic motor case structures in a fast-paced, hardware-driven environment.

The role requires a strong background in aerospace structural design and advanced composite materials, with experience in pressure vessels, COPVs, and