Senior Mechanical Engineer- Spacecraft Design
at Astranis
Location
San Francisco
Compensation
$145k–$225k USD
Type
full time
Posted
6/19/2025
Market range · company + function + seniority
p25 · target · p75 · n=27
Posted $225k · well above market
Posting health
Aging · 65- ·Open 492 days
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Job description
Astranis builds advanced satellites for high orbits, expanding humanity’s reach into the solar system. Today Astranis satellites provide dedicated, secure networks to highly-sophisticated customers across the globe – large enterprises, sovereign governments, and the US military.
With five satellites on orbit and many more set to launch soon, the company is servicing a backlog of more than $1 billion of commercial contracts. Astranis is the preferred satellite communications partner for buyers with stringent requirements for uptime, data security, network visibility, and customization.
Astranis has raised over $1.2 billion from some of the world’s best investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Blackrock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Snowpoint, and employs a team of 500 engineers and entrepreneurs. Astranis designs, builds, and operates its satellites out of its 153,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Northern California, USA.
Senior Mechanical Engineer- Spacecraft Design
As an Astranis Senior Mechanical Engineer you will own the complete lifecycle of various subsystems on our spacecraft. Whether it is incremental improvements or the introduction of a new system, you will work together with the various other teams at Astranis to make them a reality.
In addition to being a significant individual on your own, you will mentor and train junior mechanical engineers on such projects. You must have a strong problem-solving background, hands-on testing skills, and preferably some experience with spacecraft and/or aerospace engineering.
Role
- Perform mechanical design and analysis of spaceflight structures and/or mechanisms
- Complete ownership of product outcomes for spaceflight hardware
- Develop requirements for launch and on-orbit environments, including loads, interfaces, and functional requirements
- Manage system level schedule and integration requirements for your subsystems while working together with the Assembly, Integration, and Test team to enable a smooth build process
- Develop and define design best practices for future programs
- Assist in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring additional teammates to our rapidly-growing team.
Requirements
- B.S. or M.S in mechanical, aerospace engineering or equivalent
- 5+ years of mechanical design or equivalent experience
- Experience designing aerospace structures or mechanisms
- Designed flight hardware for a prior satellite program
- Strong CAD design background (SolidWorks Preferred)
- Experience with GD&T and designing for manufacturability
- Demonstrated ability to personally design, evaluate, and procure complex mechanical assemblies with 30-40 components in aerospace or similar
- A passion for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment with hands-on design and development
- A motivated leader who has experience mentoring and supporting junior engineers
- Don't meet them all? Not a problem. Please apply even if you do not meet all these criteria.
Bonus
- Experience in Assembly Integration and Test of spacecraft
- Experience with Finite Element Analysis (Femap, Ansys, Solidworks Sim)
- Experience with defining vibration environments and running mechanical testing on spacecraft and spacecraft components
- Experience running a development program while delegating to a small team
Base pay is just one component of Astranis’s total rewards package. Your compensation also includes a significant equity package via incentive stock options, high-quality company-subsidized healthcare, disability and life insurance, 401(k) retirement planning, flexible PTO, and free on-site catered meals.
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