Nyx Crew Vehicle Design Principal

Here at The Exploration Company, we are developing, producing, and operating Nyx, a modular and reusable space vehicle that will carry cargo and ultimately humans to and from low Earth orbit. The Nyx Crew team is driving this evolution from cargo to crew, designing for next-generation reliability, user-centered design, and commercial efficiency.

This is a unique opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a global human spaceflight program.

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Vehicle Design Principal to drive the development of next-generation space vehicles for crewed spaceflight applications. This individual will be responsible for leading the vehicle mechanical design development effort from early concept and architecture definition through qualification and flight readiness, ensuring the successful delivery of safe, reliable, and high-performance hardware.

As a key technical leader within the Engineering organization, the Vehicle Design Principal will play a central role in shaping strategy, developing team capabilities, mitigating technical risks, and ensuring mechanical systems meet demanding performance, reliability, schedule, and cost objectives.

• Technical Leadership

• Vehicle Architecture

• Program Execution

• Team Leadership & Capability Development

• Stakeholder, Supplier & Cross-Functional Management

• B.S. in Mechanical Design, Aerospace Engineering, Engineering Technology, or similar related discipline.

• 10+ years of relevant engineering experience. Relevant advanced degrees will be considered in lieu of equivalent experience.

• System mindset with a proven capability of understanding and managing complex systems.

• Demonstrated experience designing, integrating, and testing space systems, vehicles, or component/subsystems including direct experience in one or more of the following areas of development: structure design and analysis, manufacturing, integration and test.

• Experience designing structural components.

• Experience with CAD and lifecycle management tools, incorporating plumbing and/or electrical harness routing in 3D and finite element analysis software.

• Understanding of environmental testing, such as vibration, shock, acoustic, and/or thermal vacuum (TVAC).

• Experience working with external customers such as commercial companies and government agencies (NASA, AFRL, DARPA, etc.).

Due to federal regulations (e.g., ITAR/EAR), applicants must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents (e.g., current Green Card holders).

Due to federal regulations (e.g., ITAR/EAR), applicants must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents (e.g., current Green Card holders).

All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check, which will be subject to the country, role, and project you applied for. By submitting your application, you acknowledge and agree that any offer of employment may be conditional upon successful condition of this check. The Exploration Company partners with Zinc Work Limited located in the UK (Zinc), a third-party provider, to ensure this process as efficient and transparent as possible.

If applicable, you will receive an email from Zinc upon acceptance of your offer with a link to a secure portal where you can provide the required information to Zinc.