Senior Structures Engineer — Space Launch Tanks (Equity)

Cowboy Space Corporation; Kent (WA); On-site; USD 172,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid time off

10 paid holidays

Paid parental leave

Relocation assistance

Daily lunch in the office

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corporation is seeking a Sr. Structures Engineer in the U.S. to own the design and development of primary tanks and welded structures for our launch vehicle.

You will guide requirements, sizing, drawing release, fabrication, testing, and flight readiness in close collaboration with analysis, propulsion, manufacturing, and test teams. You’ll establish interfaces, drive design reviews, and define practical fabrication approaches while mentoring engineers, moving quickly, iterating on

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering required.
• 7+ years designing and developing structures for flight vehicles or high-performance hardware.
• Ownership of metallic tanks, pressure vessels, or thin-walled welded structures from design through manufacturing and test.
• Strong fundamentals in solid mechanics, stability, materials, and joint design including pressure loading, buckling, fatigue.
• Proficiency with mechanical CAD, drawings, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
• Ability to substantiate design decisions with hand calculations and interpret analysis results with engineers.
• Experience collaborating with manufacturing, inspection, and test teams to resolve hardware issues.
• US citizen or eligible to work in the US (ITAR context).

Responsibilities

• Own the full lifecycle of primary tanks and welded structures—from requirements, architecture, and preliminary sizing through drawing release, fabrication, testing, and flight readiness.
• Design tank barrels, domes, bulkheads, weld joints, penetrations, attachments, and supporting structures with clear load paths and well-defined interfaces.
• Perform first-order sizing and design trades to balance structural performance, mass, manufacturability, inspectability, cost, and schedule.
• Work with structural analysts to establish design load cases and verify strength, buckling, fatigue, and damage tolerance under pressure, thermal, and vehicle loads.
• Develop and release CAD models, engineering drawings, and specifications, including material requirements, GD&T, weld details, and inspection requirements.
• Partner with manufacturing and welding engineers to develop practical fabrication and assembly approaches, accounting for fit-up, tooling access, weld distortion, tolerances, and inspection access.
• Define hardware verification requirements and support proof, burst, leak, and structural testing, including configurations, fixtures, instrumentation, and acceptance criteria.
• Support fabrication and test operations; investigate anomalies, evaluate nonconformances and proposed repairs with teams, drive design improvements.
• Lead design reviews, manage structural interfaces and configuration changes, and mentor engineers in structural design and hardware development.

Skills

Solid mechanics

Structural analysis

GD&T

Tolerance analysis

Mechanical CAD

Engineering drawings

Hand calculations

Manufacturing liaison

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Tools

CAD software

Structural analysis tools

Job description

Cowboy Space Corporation is seeking a Sr. Structures Engineer in the U.S. to own the design and development of primary tanks and welded structures for our launch vehicle.

You will guide requirements, sizing, drawing release, fabrication, testing, and flight readiness in close collaboration with analysis, propulsion, manufacturing, and test teams. You’ll establish interfaces, drive design reviews, and define practical fabrication approaches while mentoring engineers, moving quickly, iterating on