Mechanical Engineer – Deployable Radiators (Aerospace)

Location: Greater Seattle Area; on-site. Export-control requirements apply: applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual, or eligible to obtain the required U.S. authorizations.

Salary: $150,000–$200,000 annually, depending on skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

Company

hirify.global is a space infrastructure startup building satellites in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight, power on-orbit computing, transmit energy with infrared lasers, and provide high-bandwidth optical data.

What you will do

• Own the structural design of large deployable radiator panels from concept through flight.
• Perform static, modal, dynamic, vibration, and deployed-state structural analyses across the mission profile.
• Design hinges, latches, springs, release devices, restraint systems, and spacecraft load interfaces.
• Integrate radiator panels with the spacecraft liquid cooling loop and develop thermal designs covering heat rejection, fin efficiency, and thermal gradients.
• Build and operate ground testbeds and development rigs to validate deployment and de-risk flight hardware.
• Develop qualification, acceptance, thermal-vacuum, vibration, static, modal, and deployment test programs, while diagnosing anomalies and implementing corrective actions.

Requirements

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience designing and analyzing lightweight structures and mechanical hardware in aerospace or other high-performance environments.
• Strong knowledge of structural strength, stiffness, buckling, and bonded or mechanically fastened joints.
• Hands-on mechanism design experience with hinges, latches, springs, release devices, or large structural assemblies.
• Proficiency with FEA for static, modal, and dynamic analysis and with CAD tools such as NX or SolidWorks.
• Experience taking hardware from concept through build, integration, and test in a fast-paced development environment.

Nice to have

• Experience designing deployable structures such as radiators, solar array substrates, antennas, or booms.
• Spacecraft structures, mechanisms, thermal-control, vibration, vacuum, or thermal-fluid coupling experience.
• Experience with bonded and welded assemblies, sheet-metal or machined-frame fabrication, prototyping, and deployment test rigs.
• Airframe or launch-vehicle primary-structure experience involving significant ascent loads.
• Knowledge of MIL-SPEC, NASA-STD, or ECSS standards and spaceflight qualification margins.

Culture & Benefits

• Fast-paced, hardware-focused startup environment with quick design cycles, builds, and test campaigns.
• Opportunity to work across thermal, structures, manufacturing, propulsion, power, avionics, and software disciplines.
• Equity in hirify.global.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and eligible dependents, plus a 401(k) plan.
• Paid time off, 10 paid holidays, paid parental leave, and relocation assistance if applicable.
• Daily office lunch and a stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks.