Principal Mechanical Engineer

About the role

Muon seeks a Principal Mechanical Engineer to join our Mechanical Engineering team, reporting to the Director of Mechanical Engineering. This role will be deeply technical with a focus on solving the most demanding design, analysis, test, reliability, and manufacturing challenges across multiple spacecraft platforms. This role will also have the opportunity to frequently be hands-on with both prototype and production hardware. You will serve as a technical leader, mentor, and advisor to others on the mechanical team, leveraging previous experience in designing & building spacecraft to push boundaries and design industry leading "new space" satellites for many different commercial and national security applications. Additionally, you will help define product roadmaps & use a breadth of knowledge to make system level tradeoffs and optimizations. This hybrid role requires onsite work at our Mountain View and San Jose locations three days a week.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical advisor and domain expert, leading the team to optimal designs of spacecraft structures and components
• Identify opportunities and lead efforts to improve performance, reduce mass, lower cost, improve manufacturability of current spacecraft platforms.
• Interface directly with Muon's product & business teams to understand market needs define multi-year roadmaps for mechanical subsystems
• Act as a force multiplier by providing strong, hands-on mentorship to mechanical engineers at all levels, developing their technical skills and systems-level thinking
• Define mechanical team standards and best practices
• Contribute broadly to hiring, onboarding, and training of mechanical engineering talent, helping build a culture of technical excellence
• Required Qualifications
• 12+ years of experience designing, building, and testing flight hardware in the space industry, with multiple programs through on-orbit operations.
• Strong mentorship experience with demonstrated success in developing junior and mid-level engineers & directly or indirectly leading a team of engineers.
• Proven track record of optimizing and maturing existing designs and proven approach to clean-sheet development
• Expert technical knowledge of structural mechanics and analysis, thermal management and modeling, environmental testing (TVAC, vibration)
• Experience with a variety of manufacturing methods and techniques for space applications, including machining, composites, molding, 3D printing, etc
• Mastery of standard tools: CAD (SolidWorks preferred), PLM, ERP, FEA, test hardware and equipment
• Expert-level skills with drawings, GD&T, BOMs, FAIs, tolerance budgets, and mass budgets
• Experience managing external vendors for part development and manufacturing
• Excellent communication, presentation, and coordination skills
• B.S. or higher in Mechanical Engineering or related field
• Nice-to-have Skills
• Experience with deployable structures (solar arrays, antennas, mechanisms)
• Optomechanical instrument or payload design experience
• Software skills in Python, MATLAB, or similar
• Experience with reaction wheels, torque rods, star trackers, or other ADCS components
• Large assembly management in SolidWorks PDM, Duro, or similar PLM
• Experience running structural analyses (FEMAP, ANSYS)
• Track record of establishing engineering standards at an organizational level
• Salary
• The salary range for this role is $222,000 - $250,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.
• About Muon Space
• Taking Care of Our Team
• Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too. Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex,

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