Senior Mechanical Engineer - Spacecraft Instrument Mechanisms

Muon seeks a Senior Mechanical Engineer to serve as a hardware expert in the design of instrument mechanisms. You’ll own the mechanical direction of the instrument mechanical subsystems from requirements definition to installation on the launch vehicle. This will include direct collaboration with Muon’s engineering and instrument teams to understand requirements, execute designs, deliver robust hardware, pulling in relevant stakeholders (such as structural, thermal, electrical, etc) at the appropriate times to deliver a satellite on-time. The ideal candidate is a self-motivated engineer with a versatile skill set who is comfortable working across many layers of technical depth from individual components through system level. Previous experience with scanners/rotating instrument systems, thermal vacuum and vibration testing, and collaborating with engineering teams to refine designs for manufacturing and assembly processes is preferred.

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 position has significant lab and hands-on work and will be located at our office in Mountain View, CA.

• Have a deep understanding of Muon’s spacecraft platforms & capabilities. Tailor and develop components to these platforms to meet mission needs.

• Own moving mechanism assemblies, including design and analysis, component sizing, subsystem assembly, performance characterization, and lifetime testing.

• Own Design for Manufacturing/Assembly (DFM/DFA) efforts to support continuous improvement and volume production.

• Create, analyze, and refine mechanism mechanical designs in SolidWorks.

• Support control algorithm development and tuning, in collaboration with cross-functional teams.

• Contribute to the continuous development of best practices, processes, tools, and methodologies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in mechanisms development.

• Write new documentation and build procedures unique to the mission. Lead mechanical portion of both internal and external design reviews.

• Support subsystem-level environmental testing campaigns including environmental (vibration, thermal-vacuum (TVAC) testing) and system characterization.

• Interface and collaborate with structural, thermal, instrument and spacecraft systems engineers, AI&T and production teams, and program managers.

• 8+ years of experience designing, building, and testing high reliability hardware

• B.S. or higher in Mechanical Engineering or related field

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

• Mastery of drawings, GD&T, BOMs, FAIs, tolerance budgets, and mass budgets

• Experience with ECO/DCO processes and PLM systems

• Demonstrated proficiency leading mechanical design for complex electromechanical systems

• Experience technically leading or managing a small team of engineers and/or technicians

• Extensive documentation capabilities: build procedures, test plans, design trades, DOEs

• Experience managing external vendors for part prototyping and development

• Experience with root cause analysis efforts including data analysis and testing.

• Excellent communication, presentation, and cross-functional coordination skills

• Experience with system integration and delivery of complex hardware/software systems.

• Excited to work in a fast-paced environment with new challenges each week.

Nice-to-have