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Salary: USD 150,000 - 205,000 / annual
Gravitics is building large-scale structures and systems for the emerging space economy, enabling human and robotic activity in Earth orbit and beyond. We are seeking an exceptional Principal Mechanical Engineer to own the top-level mechanical design, CAD configuration, and physical integration of a clean-sheet cargo vehicle.
You will be responsible for developing and maintaining the integrated vehicle CAD model, establishing the mechanical configuration, and ensuring that structures, cargo, avionics, thermal systems, mechanisms, propulsion, and other subsystems come together into a coherent and manufacturable vehicle. This is a highly cross-functional role at the center of vehicle design, working with subsystem responsible engineers to establish interfaces, drive packaging trades, identify and resolve integration conflicts, and mature the vehicle from early concepts through detailed design, build, integration, test, and flight operations.
Key responsibilities include:
- Own and maintain the top-level integrated CAD model and mechanical configuration of the cargo vehicle
- Develop vehicle-level layouts and packaging concepts satisfying mission, structural, cargo, subsystem, manufacturing, integration, and operational requirements
- Establish and maintain vehicle CAD architecture, including assembly structure, coordinate systems, interface geometry, envelopes, and keep-out zones
- Lead vehicle-level mechanical integration across primary and secondary structures, cargo, avionics, thermal systems, propulsion, mechanisms, harnessing, fluid systems, and other subsystems
- Work with subsystem engineers to define and manage mechanical interfaces and ensure integration into the overall vehicle configuration
- Lead packaging and configuration trades involving vehicle geometry, cargo volume, mass properties, accessibility, serviceability, assembly sequence, subsystem routing, and structural load paths
- Identify integration conflicts early and drive cross-functional teams to resolution
- Own vehicle-level clearance and interference management
- Drive configuration maturity from conceptual layouts through preliminary and critical design, released hardware, vehicle assembly, and integration
- Support vehicle mass properties development by maintaining accurate configuration, component location, and orientation
- Ensure vehicle configuration accounts for manufacturing, assembly, integration, test, transportation, ground handling, and operational constraints
- Develop and maintain interface definition products and documentation
- Support design reviews by communicating vehicle configuration, major trades, integration risks, and design maturity
- Create detailed mechanical designs and drawings applying sound engineering fundamentals, GD&T, and tolerance analysis
- Work directly with manufacturing, integration, and test teams to resolve vehicle-level issues
- Serve as technical authority for integrated mechanical configuration from initial concept through mission operations
You are a systems-minded mechanical engineer who understands that a vehicle is more than a collection of independently optimized subsystems. You naturally think about interfaces, packaging, assembly, accessibility, load paths, configuration, and how changes propagate through the design. You are equally comfortable working in top-level CAD assemblies, leading cross-functional packaging trades, reviewing detailed mechanical interfaces, or walking the floor with manufacturing and integration teams. You thrive in clean-sheet design environments where interfaces are still being defined. You can create order from ambiguity, make sound technical decisions with incomplete information, and drive diverse engineering teams toward integrated solutions. You are a giver who helps the broader team succeed, takes ownership of cross-organizational problems, and builds trust by driving issues to closure.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 14+ years of industry experience in mechanical, aerospace, or related engineering discipline
- Extensive experience with CAD systems (Creo, CATIA, or equivalent) for large assembly modeling and configuration management
- Deep experience with mechanical design, structural analysis, and GD&T
- Experience with vehicle mass properties, including component location management, center-of-gravity trades, and configuration-dependent mass properties
- Experience defining and managing mechanical Interface Control Documents (ICDs), interface geometry, keep-out zones, and subsystem envelopes
- Experience integrating harnessing, fluid lines, avionics, thermal hardware, and other distributed systems within constrained vehicle envelopes
- Experience with design-for-assembly, vehicle integration sequencing, ground support equipment, transportation, lifting, and handling
- Experience supporting spacecraft or launch vehicle integration and test activities through flight
- U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent resident status, or eligibility to obtain required ITAR authorizations from U.S. Department of State
