Structures Engineer II (Spacecraft)

Firefly Aerospace, Inc.

Cedar Park (TX)

On-site

USD 120,000 - 170,000

Full time

14 hours ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO (exempt)

3-month sabbatical for every 5 years

Medical, dental, vision, life, and dis

Mental health services

Paid military leave

12 weeks maternity leave

4 weeks spouse leave

$20k towards family planning

Dog friendly workplace

$10k/year towards trade school/college

Employee ownership with stock bonuses

4% Safe Harbor 401(k) matching

$10k home purchase bonus in Cedar Park

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is seeking an experienced spacecraft structures engineer to develop primary and secondary structures for the Blue Ghost Lunar Lander and Elytra vehicles.

You will join a skilled team involved in design, fabrication, testing, and verification across the product lifecycle. Responsibilities include designing composite/metallic structures, optimizing mass and production, supporting manufacturing, and ensuring requirements compliance.

Qualifications

B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, or civil engineering with 3+ years in aerospace or related structures engineering.
Strong design/integration skills using 3-D CAD software (Siemens NX / FiberSim preferable).
Understanding of ASME Y14.5 and drafting techniques for component/assembly specs.
Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team and provide technical guidance.
Experience with precision structural integration and manufacturing techniques.
MS degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering and/or 5+ years of experience.
Experience with composite manufacturing methods, material selection, testing, and characterization.
Experience with industry FEA/FEM tools (Nastran, ANSYS, FEMAP, Simcenter).
Experience with honeycomb panel design and manufacturing, heat pipe integration, thermal control systems.
Experience with vehicle-level static and vibroacoustic testing.
Familiarity with aerospace standard structural analysis methods (Bruhn, Niu, Roark).

Responsibilities

Own and influence the entire hardware design cycle from conceptual design to testing.
Design and development of composite and metallic structures for orbital/lander spacecraft.
Mass and production rate optimization of existing designs and requalifications.
Support production teams with onsite review and verification and resolve non-conformances.
Support configuration development and trade studies for future missions.
Maintain requirements compliance, delivery schedules, mass budgets, and cross-team collaboration.
Create CAD drawings, specifications, analysis reports, test plans and reports.
Perform first-order strength and sizing calculations with stress/dynamics teams.

Skills

3+ years aerospace structures

3-D CAD (NX)

ASME Y14.5 drafting

multi-discipline collaboration

structural integration

FEA/FEM tools (Nastran/ANSYS)

Education

B.S. in aerospace/mechanical/civil engineering

M.S. in aerospace/mechanical (advantage)

Tools

Siemens NX

FiberSim

Nastran

ANSYS

FEMAP

Simcenter

Job description

At Firefly, we're focused on making space attainable for everyone - including you! Each team member's passion, dedication, and innovative ideas have a direct impact on fueling our successful trajectory into space. And there's no shortage of meaningful projects to work on at Firefly. With launch, lunar, and orbital vehicles, Firefly has a diverse line of business with opportunities to get hands-on experience launching rockets, operating in space, and landing on the Moon.

Our missions are powered by our incredible team ...

836 11

What does SciTec bring to the Firefly family?
...

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Peep our Elytra orbiter being assembled in the ...

709 3

Start your week with another Manufacturing Minute! ...

436 13

This World Space Week, remember to look up and ...

The engine powering Alpha's first stage is truly ...

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Our Values

Headquartered in the Lone Star State, Firefly's hardworking team reflects Texas' GO BIG culture in everything we do. We build big, achieve big, and dream big. We're building launch vehicles and spacecraft to provide rapid, reliable space access. We've achieved some incredible wins, including the first successful commercial Moon landing. And we're dreaming bigger than this planet with ambitions to Mars, Venus, and beyond. Our core values are what drive us along the way.

Passion

Fireflies believe in perseverance, responsiveness, and mentoring others with a focus on inspiring a better future.

Accountability

Fireflies act with integrity and take ownership of our actions, commitments, decisions, and outcomes.

Fireflies work in alignment across teams and communicate clearly with mutual respect for one another.

Fireflies deliver high-quality work through technical rigor and timely disciplined execution for our customers.

We take care of our Fireflies with some of the best benefits in the industry. Our mission to make space for everyone starts with our employees and allowing them to make space for their family, their career, and their future.

Space for You

Unlimited PTO for exempt employees
3-month sabbatical for every 5 years of service
Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
Mental health services
Paid military leave

Space for Your Family

12 weeks paid maternity leave
4 weeks paid spouse leave
$20k towards family planning: fertility, surrogacy, adoption
Dog friendly workplace

Space for Your Career

$10k/year towards trade school or college
Ongoing coaching to advance leadership skills
- Employee-ownership with stock bonuses
- 4% Safe Harbor 401(k) matching
- $10k bonus for home purchase in Cedar Park, Texas

Job Openings

From launch technicians to propulsion engineers, Firefly has open roles across the company. We're looking for passionate, bright innovators to join our team and help make space an achievable dream for everyone.

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables our world to launch, land, and operate in space - anywhere, anytime. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the only commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the only company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

Firefly is looking for an experienced spacecraft structures engineer to develop our state-of-the-art primary and secondary structures throughout the product life cycle for both our Blue Ghost Lunar Lander and Elytra vehicles. You will be part of a highly skilled, dynamic team that will involve you in all aspects of analysis, design, fabrication, and testing. Excellent collaboration and communication skills, along with a positive attitude are critical.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Firefly engineers own and influence the entire hardware design cycle including conceptual design, structural layout, sizing analysis, hardware production, and structural testing.
Design and development of composite and metallic structures for orbital and lander spacecraft.
Mass and production rate optimization of existing designs and requalifying designs.
Supporting production teams with onsite review and verification as well as providing timely closure of non-conformance dispositions.
Support configuration development and trade studies for future spacecraft missions.
Maintain requirements compliance and verification, hardware delivery schedule, mass budgets and inter-system collaboration activities.
Create CAD, manufacturing drawings, specifications, analysis reports, test plans and reports.
Perform first order strength and sizing calculations for your structure, working alongside stress and dynamics analysts to document critical strength capabilities.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

B.S. degree in aerospace, mechanical, or civil engineering and 3+ years of experience in aerospace or related structures engineering.
Strong design and integration skills using 3-D CAD software (Siemens NX / FiberSim preferable).
Strong understanding of ASME Y14.5 and drafting techniques for component and assembly specifications.
Ability to effectively work in a multi-discipline team and provide technical guidance and insight.
Demonstrated experience with precision structural integration and manufacturing techniques.
M.S. degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering and/or 5+ years of experience.
Working knowledge of composite manufacturing methods, material selection, testing, and characterization.
Experience with industry FEA/FEM tools like Nastran, ANSYS, FEMAP, Simcenter, etc.
Experience with advanced honeycomb panel design and manufacturing techniques, including heat pipe integration and thermal control systems.
Experience with vehicle level static and vibroacoustic testing.
Familiarity with aerospace standard structural analysis methods (Bruhn, Niu, Roark, etc).

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, relocation benefits, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you 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.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

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