Principal Mechanical Engineer, Cargo Systems

About the role

To build our space systems, we need an exceptional mechanical engineer to own the top-level mechanical design, CAD configuration, and physical integration of a clean-sheet cargo vehicle. You will be responsible for developing and maintaining the integrated vehicle CAD model, establishing the mechanical configuration, and ensuring that structures, cargo, avionics, thermal systems, mechanisms, propulsion, and other subsystems come together into a coherent and manufacturable vehicle. This is a highly cross-functional role at the center of the vehicle design. You will work with subsystem responsible engineers to establish interfaces, drive packaging trades, identify and resolve integration conflicts, and mature the vehicle from early concepts through detailed design, build, integration, test, and flight operations.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the top-level integrated CAD model and mechanical configuration of a clean-sheet cargo vehicle.
• Develop vehicle-level layouts and packaging concepts that satisfy mission, structural, cargo, subsystem, manufacturing, integration, and operational requirements.
• Establish and maintain the vehicle CAD architecture, including assembly structure, coordinate systems, interface geometry, envelopes, keep-out zones, and other configuration-critical features.
• Lead vehicle-level mechanical integration across primary and secondary structures, cargo, avionics, thermal systems, propulsion, mechanisms, harnessing, fluid systems, and other vehicle subsystems.
• Work with subsystem responsible engineers to define and manage mechanical interfaces and ensure their designs integrate into the overall vehicle configuration.
• Lead packaging and configuration trades involving vehicle geometry, cargo volume, mass properties, accessibility, serviceability, assembly sequence, subsystem routing, and structural load paths.
• Identify integration conflicts early and drive cross-functional teams to resolution.
• Own vehicle-level clearance and interference management and ensure the integrated configuration remains internally consistent as designs mature.
• Drive configuration maturity from conceptual layouts through preliminary and critical design, released hardware, vehicle assembly, and integration.
• Support vehicle mass properties development by maintaining accurate configuration, component location, and orientation within the integrated model.
• Ensure the vehicle configuration accounts for manufacturing, assembly, integration, test, transportation, ground handling, and operational constraints.
• Develop and maintain interface definition products and other documentation necessary to communicate and control the vehicle's mechanical configuration.
• Support design reviews by clearly communicating vehicle configuration, major trades, integration risks, open interfaces, and design maturity to engineering teams and leadership.
• Create detailed mechanical designs and drawings where needed, applying sound engineering fundamentals, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
• Work directly with manufacturing, integration, and test teams to resolve vehicle-level issues as hardware moves from CAD into reality.
• Serve as the technical authority for the integrated mechanical configuration of the vehicle, from initial concept through mission operations.

Requirements

• 14+ years of industry experience in mechanical, aerospace, or a related engineering discipline.
• Demonstrated ownership of complex mechanical systems or vehicle-level integration efforts.
• Expert-level proficiency with