About the role
Structures & Mechanisms Lead
Aetherflux is solving the global energy crisis by building the infrastructure for abundant, resilient, and continuous space-based solar energy. We are tackling humanity’s most complex engineering challenge with a world-class team dedicated to delivering a revolutionary power platform. Aetherflux is transforming how civilization powers, computes, and connects—from orbit to Earth.
Overview:
Own the design, build, and performance of the vehicle’s primary structures and mechanical systems. This includes airframe, tanks, thrust structure, landing systems, aerodynamic surfaces, and stage separation hardware. Responsible for ensuring the vehicle survives flight, landing, and rapid reuse with minimal mass and maximum reliability.
Responsibilities:
- Own the primary airframe: propellant tanks, interstages, and thrust structure from concept through flight.
- Design and deliver landing legs and deployment systems capable of repeated flight and landing cycles.
- Develop aerodynamic control surfaces and associated actuation/structural systems.
- Own stage separation systems, including mechanisms, interfaces, and dynamic performance.
- Drive structural design for minimum mass while meeting strength, stiffness, fatigue, and thermal requirements.
- Ensure hardware survives combined ascent, entry, landing, and reuse environments.
- Lead structural analysis (FEA, hand calcs) and validate with test and flight data.
- Define and execute structural test campaigns (component, subscale, full-scale).
- Work directly with manufacturing to iterate quickly and resolve build issues on the floor.
- Identify and close failure modes through rapid design-test-learn cycles.
- Support flight operations, anomaly investigation, and post-flight inspection/refurbishment improvements.
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related engineering field.
- 8+ years of experience in structural design, analysis, or mechanisms for flight hardware or high-performance systems.
- Experience with load paths, structural sizing, and material selection.
- Hands-on experience taking hardware from design through build and test.
- Experience leading engineers or a team
Preferred Skills and Experience:
- Experience with launch vehicles or reusable flight systems.
- Strong background in metallic structures, welding, and/or composites.
- Experience designing mechanisms (deployment, separation, hinges, latches).
- Familiarity with cryogenic structures and/or high-temperature environments.
- Proficiency with FEA tools and ability to validate with real-world data.