Staff Mechanical Engineer (Spacecraft Components)

Location: San Jose, California, United States; onsite work required three days per week. The role requires eligibility to access U.S. export-controlled information under ITAR/EAR regulations.

Salary: $202,000–$223,000 per year, plus equity and benefits.

Company

hirify.global designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations that deliver mission-critical Earth intelligence and remote-sensing data.

What you will do

• Own mechanical direction for spacecraft components and mechanisms from requirements definition through design, build, testing, and launch-vehicle integration.
• Design and refine medium-to-large mechanical assemblies in SolidWorks, tailoring platform components and developing new hardware.
• Define mechanical architecture across multiple satellite classes and concurrent missions, balancing reliability, performance, cost, and production scalability.
• Lead design reviews, environmental test campaigns, qualification activities, and disposition of vibration, thermal-vacuum, and shock-test results.
• Create controlled engineering documentation, including drawings, GD&T, BOMs, tolerance and mass budgets, build procedures, test plans, and design trades.
• Mentor engineers, coordinate with structural, thermal, electrical, systems, production, program, vendor, and launch-provider stakeholders, and establish scalable mechanical standards.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience designing, building, and testing high-reliability hardware.
• B.S. or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
• Advanced CAD proficiency, preferably SolidWorks, including medium-to-large assembly design and management.
• Mastery of drawings, GD&T, BOMs, FAIs, tolerance budgets, mass budgets, ECO/DCO processes, and PLM systems.
• Experience leading mechanical design for complex electromechanical systems, managing external vendors, and producing technical documents such as ESOWs, technical specifications, DFMEAs, and test verification plans.
• Must be eligible to access U.S. export-controlled information under applicable ITAR/EAR requirements.

Nice to have

• Flight heritage with spacecraft mechanisms, launch interfaces, electrical modules, batteries, reaction wheels, CMGs, magnetorquers, star trackers, propulsion, radiators, or instrument packaging.
• Experience with satellite payloads, mission-level mechanical integration, thermal management, and environmental testing.
• Structural-analysis experience with FEMAP, ANSYS, or NASTRAN.
• Experience with SolidWorks PDM, Duro or similar PLM systems, Python, or MATLAB.
• Experience qualifying mechanisms to NASA-STD-5017, ECSS, or equivalent standards.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time employment with equity compensation.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, plus a 401(k) retirement plan.
• Short- and long-term disability and life insurance.
• Three weeks of paid vacation for new employees, 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time, and paid parental leave.
• Work in an early-stage spacecraft company with a manufacturing and payload-integration facility in Silicon Valley.