Structural Design Engineer III - New Glenn Payload Accommodations

About the role

This role supports the development and operations of New Glenn, a single-configuration, heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle capable of routinely carrying people and payloads to low-Earth orbit, geostationary transfer orbit, cislunar, and beyond. Its first stage is fully reusable, and the vehicle was designed from the beginning to be human-capable.

Responsibilities

• Provide shipside support during spacecraft integration and assist with design, analysis, testing, qualification, and integration of hardware onto the launch vehicle
• Design, analyze, develop, and test primary and secondary metallic and composite structures
• Create 3D models, detail part drawings, assemblies, installations, and interface control documents
• Create test plans, specifications, and other documentation for flight hardware
• Provide technical guidance and on-site support for manufacturing, production, and integration activities
• Support configuration development and trade studies
• Take ownership of test planning, execution, data reduction, analysis, and authoring of test reports
• Work with cross-functional teams that are responsible for selecting materials, manufacturing processes, and suppliers to produce world class aerospace hardware
• Develop component specifications and manage suppliers
• Plan, coordinate, conduct tests, and review test data
• Participate in the development and purchase of new equipment and tooling
• Maintain and report on activity schedule, budget and technical status
• Coach, mentor and technically assist other engineers
• Identify opportunities for improvements and operational cost savings
• Work with spacecraft customers in a technical capacity
• Own spacecraft structural integration cycles
• Drive hardware discrepancies to resolution
• Prepare technical content and present to internal and external customers
• Complete hand calc and FEM analyses to report margins of safety for primary and secondary aerospace structures
• Perform access studies, loss of clearance analyses, vehicle clocking studies, and develop solutions to mission unique requirements
• Collaborate with internal and external teams throughout design, manufacturing, and mission integration

Requirements

• Minimum of a B.S. degree in engineering and 6 years of experience with aircraft, spacecraft, or launch vehicle structures
• 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
• Experience on recently developed aircraft or launch vehicles in one or more of the following areas:
• Vehicle load path distribution, and first order strength assessment and sizing
• Skin-stringer and sandwich panel design
• Material selection, compatibility and manufacturing techniques

Qualifications

• Dynamic separation systems and interface design
• Experience with rapid development techniques for hardware
• Experience with fabrication utilizing automated fiber placement (AFP)
• Experience or expertise with fabrication of large-scale out-of-autoclave composite structures
• Demonstrated experience developing manufacturing processes for transition to production
• Knowledge of systems engineering practices, fabrication and integration processes, and quality control
• Experience with Optimization and Design of Experiments (DOE) methods as applied to design, analysis, and testing

Skills

• Strong understanding of composite and metallic design fundamentals
• Expertise with any industry standard analysis codes: Ansys, Nastran, Optistruct, LS Dyna, Hypermesh, Hypersizer
• Experience with bolted joint design and analysis
• Familiarity with ASME Y14.5, Y14.100, and Y14.41
• Structural design experience using CAD (Creo/Windchill preferred), hand calculations, and FEA (ANSYS preferred) tools
• Ability to take ownership of the hardware lifecycle from requirements definition through concept development, design, analysis, testing, qualification, and integration onto a launch vehicle
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Collaborative mindset and effective interpersonal skills
• Strong desire to continuously learn and improve
• Self-motivated with a strong desire to learn, take ownership, and drive projects to completion

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Short and long-term disability
• 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%
• Education Support Program
• Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays
• Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)