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Astro Mechanica is a vertically integrated aerospace company developing scalable technology platforms for critical infrastructure and advanced flight systems. Backed by leading venture and strategic investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Giant Step Capital, United Airlines Ventures, and Voyager Ventures, the company operates as a team of hardcore aerospace engineers in a flat organizational structure focused on pragmatic, competent execution.
In this principal-level role, you will serve as a technical leader on Duality™, Astro Mechanica's jet engine designed for efficiency from takeoff through supersonic flight. You will own the mechanical architecture of major engine subsystems, guiding them from early prototype through flight qualification, vehicle integration, and aircraft flight testing.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning mechanical architecture of major engine subsystems, defining requirements, interfaces, and design approach
- Leading trade studies that shape engine configuration and making defensible decisions with incomplete data
- Setting design standards, analysis practices, and review rigor across the mechanical design team
- Leading design reviews and serving as technical authority on mechanical design questions
- Mentoring senior and mid-level engineers through design reviews, hands-on guidance, and day-to-day collaboration
- Working across propulsion, aircraft, test, and manufacturing teams to resolve system-level tradeoffs
- Staying hands-on in CAD, analysis, prototype builds, and testing
- Leading root-cause investigations on hardware failures and driving corrective actions
- Identifying technical risks early and building plans to retire them
You will set the test-like-you-fly standard for the team and maintain close involvement with hardware throughout the development cycle.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 10+ years of hands-on mechanical design experience, including technical leadership of complex hardware programs from concept through build and test
- Track record of owning the architecture of a major system or product, not just individual components
- Deep expertise in a major CAD package (Siemens NX preferred; experience with CATIA, Creo, or SolidWorks acceptable)
- Expert knowledge of manufacturing processes including machining, additive manufacturing, and sheet metal, along with precision measurement and GD&T
- Strong command of structural analysis, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics, with judgment on when analysis is sufficient versus when testing is needed
- Experience mentoring engineers and raising the technical bar of a team
- Ability to communicate complex technical tradeoffs clearly to engineers, leadership, and external stakeholders
- Comfort making decisions under uncertainty in a fast-moving environment
NICE TO HAVE:
- Experience designing propulsion systems such as gas turbines, rocket engines, or other turbomachinery
- Experience with high-temperature, high-speed rotating, or pressurized hardware
- Flight hardware design, qualification, or certification experience
- Familiarity with data acquisition, instrumentation, and test program design
- Exposure to electromechanical systems or power electronics integration
- Experience at an early-stage hardware company during rapid growth
