Senior Mechanical Engineer

Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.

With Pulsar – the world’s most advanced PNT satellite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit – Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.

We’re looking for a Senior Mechanical Engineer who can take a complex mechanical problem, define a practical approach, and deliver reliable hardware. You will own spacecraft subsystems and critical equipment from early requirements and trade studies through design, build, qualification, and production support.

Projects may include primary structure, deployable mechanisms, launch vehicle interfaces, solar arrays, machined and sheet metal brackets, electronics enclosures, precision mounts, and high-criticality mechanical ground support equipment (GSE). Your assignments will evolve with the needs of the spacecraft and the team.

You will work with substantial autonomy, make sound decisions with incomplete information, and help the team resolve its most challenging mechanical issues. This is a hands‑on individual contributor role with technical leadership and mentoring responsibilities.

• Own complex mechanical subsystems from concept through qualification and production, establishing requirements, interfaces, verification plans, and realistic delivery schedules.
• Lead mechanical trade studies and contribute to spacecraft layouts and architecture, balancing load paths, packaging, thermal interfaces, reliability, cost, manufacturability, and integration needs.
• Design flight hardware and critical GSE; release CAD, drawings, bills of materials, and interface definitions with clear GD&T, tolerance analysis, and configuration control.
• Use first‑principles calculations and structural FEA to substantiate designs. Partner with structural and thermal specialists to define loads, boundary conditions, margins, and verification needs.
• Build prototypes, work directly with hardware, and develop fixtures and functional tests to retire risks. Own qualification of assigned hardware and occasionally support spacecraft vibration and TVAC campaigns.
• Lead resolution of build, integration, test, and production anomalies: contain the issue, investigate root cause, implement corrective action, and verify the fix.
• Own supplier technical execution, including requirements, design reviews, procurement coordination, inspection criteria, and resolution of manufacturing issues.
• Coordinate across mechanical, thermal, electrical, payload, GNC, manufacturing, and integration and test teams. Identify risks early, communicate tradeoffs, and drive issues to closure.
• Review designs, mentor engineers, and improve engineering practices while remaining directly responsible for delivering hardware.

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related engineering field.
• 7+ years of mechanical hardware development experience, with demonstrated responsibility for complex assemblies or subsystems in aerospace or another high‑reliability field.
• A record of independently taking hardware from requirements and concept through detailed design, build, and qualification or equivalent verification.
• Strong mechanical fundamentals, including load paths, joints and fasteners, materials, thermal and optical properties, manufacturing processes, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
• Proficiency in 3D CAD and drawing release using Solid Works or a comparable platform, with disciplined PDM and configuration management practices.
• Ability to perform and critically assess structural calculations and FEA, understand modeling assumptions,…