Structural Analysis Engineer

torrance, ca

About the role

Why Castelion, Why Now

Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus and technical excellence are decisive advantages - and we are building a team that can deliver real capability, not just concepts.

This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, where your work will directly shape critical systems, influence major technical decisions, and have immediate, real-world impact.

Structural Analysis Engineer

We're looking for a Structural Analysis Engineer to help design and validate next-generation hypersonic defense systems. You'll work in a fast-moving startup environment where analysis directly informs design decisions, hardware builds, and flight readiness. This role offers high ownership, close collaboration with design and test teams, and the opportunity to see your work rapidly turn into flying hardware.

Responsibilities

  • Perform structural analysis of aerospace components and assemblies under static, dynamic, thermal, and fatigue loading.
  • Use hand calculations and finite element models to support rapid design iteration.
  • Work closely with design engineers to influence geometry, materials, and load paths early in the design process.
  • Correlate analysis with test data and support structural testing and qualification efforts.
  • Exemplify technical excellence and be accountable for your work
  • Communicate technical content in an efficient and effective manner to partner teams

Basic Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
  • Strong understanding of structural analysis, structural dynamics, and aerospace materials.
  • Experience with FEA tools such as Abaqus, NASTRAN, or similar solvers.
  • Comfortable working in ambiguous, rapidly evolving technical environments.

Preferred Skills and Experience

  • Master's degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering.
  • Experience with launch vehicles, spacecraft, aircraft, UAVs, or propulsion systems.
  • Knowledge of fatigue, fracture mechanics, buckling, or thermal-structural analysis.
  • Familiarity with aerospace standards and certification processes (e.g., FAA, NASA, MIL).
  • Scripting or programming experience (Python, MATLAB) to automate analysis workflows.
  • Experience supporting hardware testing or flight operations

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Benefits And Perks

All full-time employees are granted meaningful long-term equity, sharing in the company's significant growth trajectory. We offer four (4) weeks of paid time off, ten (10) company-paid holidays, and comprehensive health benefits - including 100% employee-covered medical and strong dependent coverage, along with dental and vision plans. We also provide paid parental leave to support growing families, a $100 monthly fitness stipend to promote health and performance, and onsite EV charging for convenience. In addition, employees enjoy perks like catered meals, company-covered food during high-demand periods, and a fully stocked kitchen to stay fueled throughout the day.

While this position does not currently require a U.S government-issued security clearance, it may in the near future. Therefore, the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government–issued security clearance is required. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance.

Affirmative Action/EEO Statement

Employment with Castelion is governed on the basis of competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

About Castelion

Castelion is a modern defense production company building long-range hypersonic strike systems to address a critical national security gap. Founded in 2021, Castelion was created in response to the recognized need for the United States to rapidly develop hypersonic capabilities to remain competitive with near-peer adversaries and deter future conflicts.

The company operates under the philosophy of "Peace through Deterrence" — building the weapons systems that ensure conflicts never need to happen. Castelion is one of the few companies in the hypersonics space that has moved beyond concepts to actual production deliverables, with government contracts across multiple branches of the military and a $23M+ Navy order for 50 units in calendar year 2027.

Backed by over $469M in funding from top-tier investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and General Catalyst, Castelion is scaling rapidly. The company is building what it anticipates will become the preeminent hypersonics campus in the country — including a $150M, 1,000-acre solid rocket motor manufacturing facility in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, alongside its headquarters in Torrance, California.

Castelion's culture is defined by technical excellence, ownership, and velocity. Engineers own meaningful subsystems on the vehicle and are responsible for driving their success. The company follows a responsible engineering model inspired by SpaceX, where individuals choose the highest-value work and are empowered to cultivate resources and partnerships to deliver results. The engineering bar is exceptionally high — attracting elite talent who want to be surrounded by other elite talent.

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Job details

Location

torrance, ca

Company

NameCastelion
Industrydefense, hardware, manufacturing
Team Size300

Funding

Total raised

$464M

Last stage

Growth

Investors

AAltimeter Capital
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Andreessen Horowitz
General Catalyst
LLavrock Ventures

Founders

Bryon Hargis

Bryon Hargis

Co-Founder & CEO

LinkedIn
SP

Sean Pitt

Co-Founder & COO

AK

Andrew Kreitz

Co-Founder & CFO

What happens next.

No applications, no recruiter spam. Just the intro.

01

Confirm the fit

A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.

02

I pitch you to the company

I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.

03

A meeting lands on your calendar

If they’re a yes, I book the chat. You show up — that’s the whole job-hunt.