Mechanical Engineer - Spacecraft Components and Systems

About the role

Muon seeks a Mechanical Engineer to join our team. The ideal candidate can go deep on design and analysis but also has a "systems mindset" and will be a force multiplier collaborating with other disciplines to arrive at an elegant, well-balanced design. Being an early-stage startup with a small team, breadth is extremely important and we expect this person to dive into structural analysis, dynamics, thermal design, supplier management, and everything else associated with the full lifecycle of an electromechanical product.

This is an individual contributor role focused on hands-on design, analysis, build support, and test execution for spacecraft mechanical hardware.

This position is hybrid and requires working on-site in our San Jose, CA office three days per week.

Responsibilities

Mechanical Design

Create, review, and refine spacecraft component and subsystem mechanical designs in a modern CAD package (SolidWorks), managing small-to-medium assemblies

Develop clean-sheet mechanical and structural designs through detailed design, consistent with the risk posture, development velocity, and deployment schedules at Muon

Create quick concepts to drive early-phase discussions and inspire the team

Influence flight designs to ensure hardware is optimized for manufacturability, assembly, and testability

Make economically sound make vs. buy decisions, balancing the need to quickly demonstrate capability while understanding the path to scaled-up constellations

Analysis

Perform stress and dynamic analyses (hand calculations, simple FEM) to support and inform structural designs, including joint design, fastener sizing, and stiffness analyses

Collaborate with structural and thermal analysts to iterate designs for performance and manufacturability

Conduct trade studies to evaluate design alternatives and document recommendations

Support mass budget tracking and tolerance stack-up analyses for mechanical assemblies

Build Integration

Create and maintain build procedures, assembly instructions, and work orders for mechanical hardware

Support and oversee technicians during assembly and integration of mechanical components and subsystems

Identify and resolve fit, form, and function issues during hardware builds

Drive designs toward producibility, considering prototype through production quantity needs

Conduct first article inspections (FAIs) and document non-conformances; participate in MRB as needed

Test Verification

Design test fixtures and GSE to support development, qualification, and acceptance testing

Develop component and subsystem-level test plans and procedures for environmental testing (vibration, shock, TVAC)

Specify and integrate test instrumentation (accelerometers, strain gauges, thermocouples, etc.)

Execute and support environmental test campaigns; collect, reduce, and analyze test data

Document test results and correlate with analysis predictions; recommend design updates as needed

Documentation Configuration Management

Create and maintain engineering drawings with proper GD T, BOMs, and revision control

Author and maintain design documentation including trade studies, interface control documents (ICDs), and design rationale

Execute ECOs/DCOs and maintain configuration control through PLM systems

Document lessons learned from builds and tests to inform future designs

Collaboration Coordination

Own delivery of mechanical items and subsystems, coordinating with analysts, avionics, program, thermal, optical, and RF engineers

Manage development of mechanical/structural architectures through detailed design in collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders

Coordinate with external vendors for part prototyping and development; review vendor deliverables for compliance with requirements

Present design status, trade studies, and test results at design reviews

Required Qualifications

5 years of experience designing, building, and testing flight hardware in the space industry (or similar: aerospace, autonomous vehicles, robotics, etc.)

B.S. or higher degree in Mechanical Engineering

Proficiency in CAD (SolidWorks preferred) for component and assembly design

Experience with engineering drawings, GD T, BOMs, and ECO processes

Demonstrated experience executing structural or environmental tests and documenting results

Hands-on experience supporting hardware builds and integration activities

Strong documentation skills: ability to author clear build procedures, test plans, and technical reports

Excellent communication, presentation, and cross-functional coordination skills

A desire to change the way the world understands and reacts to climate and environmental data

Excited to work in a fast-paced environment with new opportunities each week

Nice-to-Have Skills

Experience with deployable structures (solar arrays, antennas, mechanisms) or SADA mechanisms

Experience running structural analyses for spacecraft (FEMAP, ANSYS, Nastran)

Experience with thermal mana…