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Portal Space Systems is building spacecraft for the next era of orbital operations, focused on making space more accessible, responsive, and capable. The company is seeking a Senior Satellite Bus Structures Designer to own the complete lifecycle of satellite bus structural design and vehicle-level physical architecture.
In this role, you will be responsible for defining and maintaining the satellite bus structure from initial architecture through detailed design, manufacturing, integration, qualification, and flight support. You will own primary and secondary structural architectures, load paths, equipment mounting, interfaces, packaging, and the top-level spacecraft configuration. This includes maintaining the authoritative CAD assembly, the complete engineering bill of materials (EBOM), and ensuring all subsystem models integrate correctly.
Key responsibilities include translating spacecraft requirements into structural and mechanical design criteria (strength, stiffness, dynamic response, alignment, interface loads, mass, envelope, dimensional stability); defining assembly, alignment, inspection, and verification methods; creating and reviewing detailed parts, assemblies, and drawings using GD&T practices per ASME Y14.5; maintaining vehicle-level mass properties including center-of-mass and inertia tracking; and balancing structural performance, mass, manufacturability, assembly simplicity, accessibility, cost, and schedule.
You will work closely with structural and thermal analysis teams, avionics, guidance/navigation/control, propulsion, mechanisms, manufacturing, integration, test, systems engineering, and suppliers. This is a hands-on hardware development role requiring the ability to move quickly, make sound engineering decisions, apply first-order calculations and simplified models, and resolve fit, interference, and configuration issues during spacecraft build.
The role requires ITAR eligibility; candidates must be U.S. persons (U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or other protected individuals as defined by U.S. law).
REQUIREMENTS:
- 8+ years of experience in spacecraft, satellite, or aerospace vehicle structural design and development
- Proficiency in CAD (Creo, CATIA, or equivalent) and experience owning top-level spacecraft or vehicle assemblies
- Strong knowledge of structural analysis, load paths, joints, fasteners, and materials selection for aerospace applications
- Experience with GD&T (ASME Y14.5) and detailed mechanical drawing creation
- Familiarity with spacecraft or satellite design standards, requirements flow-down, and interface control documents
- Experience supporting static, vibration, shock, and fit-check verification or qualification testing
- Hands-on experience with aerospace hardware assembly, alignment, inspection, metrology, machining, and troubleshooting
- Experience developing CAD, drawing, reusable-library, or configuration-management standards
- ITAR eligibility required (U.S. person status)
