SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Salary: USD 109,725 - 193,620 / annual
STOKE Space is building Nova, a fully reusable launch vehicle designed for daily flight to radically lower space launch costs and increase flight cadence. We're seeking a Mechanical Engineer to own the payload fairing jettison system end-to-end—from requirements definition and analysis through flight operations, refurbishment, and reuse.
In this role, you will be the technical owner of a critical system on Nova. Your responsibilities span the complete lifecycle: developing and running jettison dynamics and clearance analyses (including dispersions) to demonstrate margin for each mission; deriving system requirements and loads; designing, analyzing, procuring, and qualifying pneumatics, actuators, and mechanisms; creating detailed CAD models and manufacturing drawings with proper GD&T; and working directly with machinists, technicians, and suppliers to build and test hardware on schedule and budget.
You'll plan and execute integrated jettison tests from development through qualification, troubleshoot failures, disposition non-conformances, and drive root cause corrective action. You'll lead design reviews, communicate technical decisions clearly, and run trade studies on separation and deployment architectures for next-generation reusable fairings, payload adapters, and dispensers. This is a hands-on role where you'll carry the current system to flight and help define the next generation of separation systems.
The ideal candidate has rock-solid mechanical engineering fundamentals, a love of mechanisms, and a bias for action. You'll work alongside a mission-driven, collaborative team empowered to take ownership of their work.
**Requirements:**
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
- 5+ years of hands-on engineering experience designing, building, and testing hardware
- Exceptional command of mechanical engineering fundamentals (statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, heat transfer, fluid mechanics)
- Experience designing, analyzing, and testing pneumatics, actuators, or mechanisms
- Proficiency with 3D CAD and creating detailed manufacturing drawings
- Working knowledge of GD&T per ASME Y14.5
- Experience with structural analysis (hand calculations and FEA)
- Hands-on test experience: test plans, instrumentation, running tests, and correlating data to analysis
- Proven ability to take ownership, work independently, and deliver results
- Strong communication skills; ability to explain complex problems simply
**Preferred Qualifications:**
- Experience with multibody dynamics analysis (Adams, Simscape Multibody, LS-Dyna, or similar) and Monte Carlo dispersion analysis
- Familiarity with design and qualification to NASA-STD-5017 and AIAA S-114
- Experience with launch vehicle separation systems (fairing jettison, stage separation, or payload separation)
- Experience with NX, ANSYS, and Femap or similar tools
- Experience designing for launch vehicle environments (vibration, shock, vacuum, thermal cycle)
- Experience with reusable hardware: inspection, refurbishment, and life tracking
- Exposure to separation electrical systems, separating connectors, or harness routing
- Experience in fast-paced startup or rapid development environments
- Track record of shipping hardware from first principles through flight
**ITAR Requirement:** Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) to conform to International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
