Chief Engineer (mechanical Engineering)

Mechanical Engineering Chief Engineer

As an end-to-end responsive space company, Firefly Aerospace is on a mission to enable our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. Our small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles allow us to service the entire lifecycle of government and commercial missions from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. We utilize carbon composite structures, patented propulsion technologies, and common components across our vehicles to iterate quickly, improve reliability, and deliver payloads at a lower cost.

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

The Mechanical Engineering Chief Engineer (CE) will provide technical leadership for mechanical, architectural, and structural design and analysis of Firefly's launch vehicle and spacecraft products. This role ensures consistent engineering rigor, sound technical decision-making, and disciplined execution across structures, mechanisms, loads & dynamics, stress analysis, and integrated mechanical systems. The CE partners closely with the Director of Mechanical Engineering and program leadership to support development, test, production, and flight readiness. The role owns technical decisions, engineering standards, change activity, production support, escalation paths and mentoring engineers - while enabling teams to execute efficiently and independently.

Responsibilities

Technical Authority & Decision Ownership

• Serve as technical authority and approver for mechanical hardware decisions, including design changes, ECOs/CRs, and release packages; ensure trades, assumptions, analyses, and test data are technically sound and defensible.
• Lead and arbitrate cross-disciplinary technical trades impacting vehicle performance, reliability, manufacturability, and certification.
• Own mechanical and structural requirements, verification methods, compliance evidence, and acceptance criteria.

Analysis, Verification & Test Rigor

• Guide and approve analysis methodologies and reports, including FEA, classical hand calculations, margins philosophy, loads & dynamics, and test correlation.
• Drive hardware development and qualification test definition, standards, and guidelines.
• Provide technical oversight of test operations, including test readiness reviews and evaluation of test plans for thoroughness, quality, and adherence to applicable standards.

Execution Support & Issue Resolution

• Partner with Manufacturing, Reliability/Quality, and Program teams to resolve integration, build, and production issues and ensure integration-ready hardware.
• Maintain engineering rigor through change activity, NCRs, RCCAs, and anomaly investigations.

Continuous Improvement & Engineering Standards

• Ensure lessons learned and test findings are incorporated into future standards and designs.
• Drive continuous improvement in engineering quality, reliability, cost, and lead-time.

Technical Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to mechanical engineering teams, elevating technical judgment, review readiness, and overall engineering quality.
• Collaborate effectively with other technical and support organizations to optimize workflow and execution across the company.

Qualifications

Required

Education & Experience

• B.S. in Aerospace, Mechanical, or related engineering field.
• 10+ years of experience in mechanical and/or structural design, analysis, and qualification for aerospace systems.

Technical Authority & Engineering Judgment

• Demonstrated experience owning technical decisions, design reviews, change control, and NCR/RCCA disposition.
• Proven ability to translate complex technical problems into clear, defensible engineering decisions backed by physics, data, and sound judgment.

Analysis, Structures, & Verification

• Deep understanding of:
• FEM/FEA and classical hand analysis and verification methods
• Structural mechanics and load paths
• Materials and fracture mechanics
• Loads and Dynamic Analysis and testing
• Configuration control and compliance evidence

Manufacturing & Materials

• Working knowledge of composite manufacturing methods, material selection, testing, characterization, and allowables development.

Technical Leadership & Rigor

• Strong documentation rigor and configuration control discipline; sets the standard for technical quality.
• Track record of elevating engineering teams through mentorship, technical leadership, and raising the bar on review readiness.

Desired

Advanced Expertise

• M.S. or PhD in a relevant discipline.
• Experience serving as a Chief Engineer, technical authority, or structural signatory for launch vehicle or spacecraft flight programs.
• Expertise in advanced structures, such as composites, bonded assemblies, cryogenic tanks, reusable structures, or high-rate production environments.

Cross-Disciplinary & Tools

• Strong cross-disciplinary instincts; able to connect structures decisions to propulsion, mechanisms, loads & dynamics, and integration constraints.
• Strong design and integration skills using 3D CAD software (Siemens NX preferred).
• Demonstrated experience with industry FEA/FEM tools (ANSYS, Nastran, FEMAP, etc.).
• Working knowledge of at least one computer or scripting language at a hobbyist level or professional.

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, 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.