Senior Structures Engineer at Cowboyspace · LumiJobs

Responsibilities

As a Sr. Structures Engineer, you will own the design and development of primary tanks and welded structures for our launch vehicle—from requirements and first-order sizing through detailed design, fabrication, qualification, and flight. You will turn pressure, thermal, and vehicle load requirements into lightweight, reliable hardware that we can build, inspect, and test.
You’ll be expected to move quickly, iterate often, spend time with hardware, and take full ownership of the structures you deliver.
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. Incorporate analysis and test findings into the design.
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 test configurations, fixtures, instrumentation needs, and acceptance criteria.
Support fabrication and test operations directly. Investigate anomalies, evaluate nonconformances and proposed repairs with analysis, manufacturing, and quality teams, and drive design improvements.
Lead design reviews, manage structural interfaces and configuration changes, and mentor engineers in structural design and hardware development.

Qualification

Strong fundamentals in solid mechanicsProficiency with mechanical CADMust be a U

Required

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
7+ years of experience designing and developing structures for flight vehicles, propulsion systems, or other high-performance hardware.
Demonstrated ownership of metallic tanks, pressure vessels, or thin-walled welded structures from design through manufacturing and test.
Strong fundamentals in solid mechanics, structural stability, materials behavior, and joint design, including an understanding of pressure loading, buckling, fatigue, and the effects of welding on structural performance.
Proficiency with mechanical CAD, engineering drawings, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
Ability to substantiate design decisions with classical hand calculations and interpret structural analysis results in partnership with analysts.
Experience working directly with manufacturing, inspection, and test teams to resolve hardware issues.
Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Preferred

Direct experience designing launch vehicle primary structures or cryogenic propellant tanks.
Experience with stainless-steel tank construction, sheet and plate forming, and welded assemblies.
Experience developing weld-joint designs and supporting weld-process qualification, including consideration of material properties, heat-affected zones, distortion, defects, and nondestructive inspection.
Experience with reusable or repeatedly pressurized hardware, including thermal cycling, fatigue life, inspection access, and repair considerations.
Experience supporting structural qualification campaigns, pressure testing, and failure investigations.
Familiarity with relevant aerospace structural standards, pressure-vessel requirements, and material allowables sources such as MMPDS.
Experience taking hardware from early development into repeatable production and improving designs based on fabrication and test results.

Senior Structures Engineer

Responsibilities

Qualification

Required

Preferred

Benefits

Company

Cowboyspace

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