Mechanical Engineer III - Payload

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the only commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the only company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond.

Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing.

Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY: The Payload Engineer III is responsible for the design, analysis, development, and qualification of the payload segment and mechanical interfaces to spacecraft for the Alpha Launch Vehicle. This role provides technical leadership across the full lifecycle of the payload segment hardware including fairings, attach fittings and adapters.

This role offers a unique opportunity to get hands on with the unique spacecraft customers driving their mission requirements into functional hardware.

RESPONSIBILITIES
• Individual contribution and teamwork as the technical owner to develop and produce both payload segment and spacecraft interfaces for individual customers to accomplish the goal of delivering launch vehicle customers to orbit.
• Create and manage hardware definition through CAD, drawings and documentation.
• Perform and/or guide detailed analysis including structural margins, thermal effects, and tolerance stack-ups.
• Build confidence and reliability through rigorous documentation.
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams to ensure all hardware integrates seamlessly.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, and Supply Chain to ensure hardware is producible, inspectable, and flight-ready.
• Support build, integration, and acceptance activities, resolving fit, function, and performance issues to ensure a successful product.
• Lead development, qualification, and acceptance testing of payload hardware, including component-, subassembly-, and system-level tests to SMC-S016, AIAA S-114, GEVS and other industry standards.
• Hold mechanical interface control definition for unique spacecraft through documentation.
• Support customer fit check and integrations though segment encapsulation as the technical owner.
• Provide technical mentorship to junior engineers, elevating overall design quality.
• Act as a subject matter expert in interface meetings with customers and mission management
• Up to 20% travel as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS Required
• B.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering field.
• 6+ years of experience designing, analyzing, and qualifying hardware for aerospace applications or high-reliability systems.
• Demonstrated experience with flight-critical structures or mechanisms.
• Experience designing and testing for extreme environments including vibration, shock, and vacuum conditions.
• Demonstrated foundation of design with carbon fiber and metallic structures.
• Proficiency with FEA and classical hand calculations methods…