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Antares is building mass-producible, inherently safe, deployable microreactors for terrestrial, underwater, and space applications. The company's mission is to make clean energy abundant from Earth to the Asteroid Belt, leveraging advanced nuclear energy to strengthen military capabilities, address climate challenges, and expand humanity's presence in space. Antares has raised over $600M in venture capital and holds hundreds of millions in contracts with military services, NASA, and the Department of Energy.
As a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer on the Mission Engineering team, you will own hardware associated with nuclear power systems destined for space, the Moon, and Mars. You will serve as the Responsible Engineer (RE) for space systems, taking hardware from clean sheet design through build, development test, qualification, and integration phases. Your responsibilities span the entire lifecycle of your assigned subsystem and related hardware, including interfaces with other systems, system integration, sourcing, manufacturing, and iterative design improvements for first-of-a-kind systems.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning a subsystem and related hardware as part of the larger space nuclear system
- Driving system-level layout, requirements definition and decomposition, build/test cycles, and defending design decisions across all phases from concept through Critical Design Review (CDR) and beyond
- Managing CAD models, configurations, and technical drawings; producing Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) documentation
- Leading cross-discipline alignment and trade studies
- Coordinating closely with nuclear, thermal, structures, manufacturing, and quality teams to ensure system architecture meets mission and product requirements
- Developing clean sheet designs through hardware procurement and development/qualification testing
- Supporting design reviews, integration/test planning, manufacturing plan development, and work instruction generation
The role is based in Torrance, CA at Antares' 322,000 square-foot facility in the heart of Los Angeles' emerging tech ecosystem. The team includes veterans from SpaceX, the White House, the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, MIT, and National Laboratories including Idaho, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Savannah River.
REQUIREMENTS:
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related physics-based field
- 5+ years of experience in space system/product mechanical design, system configuration, and layout
- Expertise with CAD software (e.g., NX, CATIA) and past experience with PLM and manufacturing planning/management systems
Preferred Skills & Experience:
- Master's or PhD in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or related physics-based field
- Expertise in design, analysis, and integration of nuclear or space nuclear systems
- Leadership experience on a project or research team
- Strong project management skills, cross-discipline communication, and collaborative interpersonal skills
- Exceptional communication abilities to convey technical information to non-specialists
- Understanding of fundamental principles in fluid systems and solid mechanics
- Demonstrated track record of high-impact contributions with strong ROI
- Broad knowledge of materials science and material selection, especially for nuclear applications
- Ability to conduct complex design trades, system sizing, and first-order engineering analyses while identifying limitations and design risks
- Very strong design skills, GD&T expertise, and drawing experience; ability to take designs into production
Additional Requirements:
- Ability to work long hours and weekends as necessary to support critical milestones
- Willingness and ability to obtain and retain a security clearance
- ITAR compliance: Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, Refugee, or Asylee, or be eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State
