Lead Configurator / Integrator

About the role

Cowboy Space Corp. is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight and enable a new class of capabilities—from powering on-orbit compute, to transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), to delivering secure, high-bandwidth optical data. By rethinking how energy and data are generated and distributed in space, we’re unlocking entirely new ways to operate both in orbit and on Earth.

Responsibilities

• Own the configuration and packaging of engine assemblies and vehicle subsystems ensuring optimal tradeoffs between, mass, volumetric efficiency within constrained envelopes, cost, and system lead time.
• Design and route fluid conductors (tubing, flex lines, manifolds) and small-bore lines across engines and vehicle systems; define routing paths that minimize pressure drop, vibration exposure, and interference while respecting assembly and maintenance access.
• Design component mounting hardware, brackets, clamps, and secondary structure; size and substantiate these for flight loads (vibration, acoustic, shock, thermal) with appropriate hand methods and FEA.
• Drive layout decisions with explicit consideration for assembly sequence, technician access, tool clearance, refurbishment workflows, and inspection requirements—ensuring that what looks good on screen works on the shop floor.
• Conduct rapid design exploration using a combination of hand sketches, parametric CAD, generative design, and AI-assisted layout tools.
• Cook up with propulsion, avionics, and mechanisms teams to resolve spatial conflicts, define interface control boundaries, and ensure subsystem layouts integrate cleanly into the vehicle architecture.
• Evaluate packaging alternatives with quantified trade criteria: mass, routing pressure drop, structural margin, assembly time, maintenance access, and failure-mode exposure, cost, and other supply chain considerations.
• Support integration and build activities: resolve fit-check issues in real time, disposition assembly issues, and iterate layouts for manufacturability.
• Mentor designers and junior engineers on best practices for configuration design, elegant routing, load-conscious bracketry, and design-for-serviceability principles.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering field.
• 5+ years of experience in configuration design, systems integration, packaging, or layout engineering for complex mechanical/fluid assemblies—preferably in aerospace, or similarly constrained environments.
• High-level proficiency in 3D CAD (NX preferred) with demonstrated ability to build and manage large, multi-discipline assemblies and produce production-quality routing and installation definitions.
• A strong understanding of structural loads, secondary structure design, and bracket/clamp architectures and sizing—able to assess whether a mounting solution is structurally adequate without waiting for a full stress cycle.
• Hands-on experience with hardware integration: you have been on the floor during assembly, seen what works and what doesn’t, and can design for the human hand and the real tool envelope.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience configuring rocket engines or launch-vehicle systems: propellant routing, pneumatic lines, bleed/drain/vent lines, and engine-to-vehicle interfaces.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted design tools, generative design, topology optimization, or computational layout methods—and a willingness to push these tools further to accelerate configuration decisions.
• Working knowledge of tube fabrication constraints (bend radii, weld access, braze clearance, flex-hose routing rules) and how they drive routing geometry decisions.
• Experience with vibration and dynamic loads on secondary structure and fluid lines: natural frequency requirements, clamp spacing rules, and anti-vibration mounting techniques.
• Background in design-for-maintenance and human factors: ergonomic access analysis, maintenance task planning, or workflow driven layout optimization for serviceability and reuse.
• Demonstrated creative problem-solving ability: you naturally generate multiple configuration concepts, sketch rapidly, and converge on elegant solutions that others didn’t see.