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Salary: USD 150,000 - 180,000 / annual
Cowboy Space Corp., founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (Robinhood co-founder) and backed by leading investors, is building orbital infrastructure to power and connect the space economy. The company operates satellites in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight, enable on-orbit compute, transmit energy via infrared lasers, and deliver secure optical data.
As a Mechanisms Engineer, you will own a critical vehicle mechanism subsystem end-to-end—from concept through flight qualification. Depending on team priorities and your background, you may focus on separation systems, landing gear, aero control surfaces, or electromechanical actuation. This is a hands-on role at the center of hardware development, requiring close collaboration with propulsion, structures, avionics, guidance/navigation/control, and launch operations teams.
Key responsibilities include: owning your mechanism subsystem from concept through design, analysis, test, and flight; driving structural and kinematic design for minimum mass while meeting strength, stiffness, fatigue, and operational-life requirements across ascent, entry, landing, and reuse environments; balancing performance, manufacturability, cost, and schedule in design decisions; performing analysis (hand calculations, FEA, tolerance stack-ups) and validating predictions with test and flight data; defining and executing qualification and acceptance test campaigns; developing engineering drawings, models, and release documentation; working directly on the factory floor with manufacturing to iterate quickly and resolve build issues; troubleshooting hardware anomalies and performing root cause analysis; and supporting launch operations, post-flight inspection, and refurbishment planning.
Required qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field; 5+ years designing mechanisms or mechanical systems for flight vehicles or high-performance hardware; experience taking hardware from concept through build, integration, and test; strong fundamentals in structural mechanics, kinematics, materials, and manufacturing processes; proficiency with CAD (NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, or Creo) and ASME Y14.5 GD&T standards; proficiency with FEA tools (ANSYS, Nastran, or Abaqus); U.S. citizenship or permanent residency (ITAR requirement).
Preferred: 10+ years mechanism design experience; direct experience with separation systems, landing gear, aero control surfaces, or flight electromechanical actuators; pyrotechnic or low-shock separation device experience; hands-on prototyping and machining; reusable vehicle design familiarity; experience at fast-moving hardware-focused startups.
