Senior Mechanical Engineer (electric Propulsion)

Senior Mechanical Engineer (Electric Propulsion)

As a Senior Mechanical Engineer for our Electric Propulsion Team at Impulse, you will own the full life cycle of mechanical design for our high-efficiency Hall thrusters and their vehicle interfaces. You will develop solutions involving extreme temperatures, exotic material combinations, and exposure to high-energy plasmas. This role is highly collaborative: you will work closely with engineers and technicians across avionics, test, manufacturing, and vehicle engineering to deliver flight-ready hardware. You'll thrive here if you enjoy learning new systems and guiding space hardware from initial design through qualification and production.

Responsibilities

Design, analyze, build, test, and document Hall thruster components/assemblies and vehicle interfaces for electric propulsion system hardware. Define driving load cases and environments in collaboration with loads/dynamics and thermal teams. Perform structural and thermal finite element analyses of complex assemblies. Collaborate with partner teams (avionics, software, test, GNC) to deliver a high performing, integrated system. Support builds from first article through transition to production, incorporating DFM and reliability improvements with the manufacturing team. Lead discrepancy investigation and root-cause analyses for issues discovered during development, build, and test. Support ground testing and flight operations of electric propulsion systems. Create and review engineering drawings and apply GD&T principles.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or related discipline. 5+ years of hands-on experience in mechanical design and analysis. Proficiency in CAD, GD&T, and assembly management. Demonstrated skill in structural analysis, including finite element modeling and hand calculations. Familiarity with manufacturing processes including CNC machining, additive manufacturing, and welding. Strong communication skills and demonstrated ability to operate autonomously across teams.

Preferred Skills and Experience

Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field. 7+ years of demonstrated experience designing and analyzing electric propulsion or other plasma-facing hardware design (fusion systems, experimental research devices, semiconductor manufacturing, thin-film deposition, etc). Experience working in a startup or agile development environment. Demonstrated experience fully owning the design and delivery of hardware for spaceflight. Strong understanding of material properties, mechanics of materials, and dissimilar material interactions.

Additional Information

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan. Impulse Space's spacecraft manufacturing business is subject to U.S. export regulations including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This position requires applicants to be either U.S. Persons (i.e., U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent U.S. resident (green card holder), an individual granted asylum in the U.S., or an individual admitted in U.S. refugee status) or persons eligible to obtain an export license from the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, or other applicable U.S. government agencies. Learn more about the ITAR here. Impulse Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Impulse Space is governed on the basis of 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.

About Impulse Space

Impulse Space, the in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, is opening access beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with its fleet of in-space transportation vehicles. The high-energy Helios vehicle unlocks orbits beyond LEO with its powerful Deneb engine, dropping off payloads in MEO, GEO, heliocentric, lunar, and other planetary orbits. The flight-proven Mira vehicle uses a nontoxic, high-impulse chemical propulsion system to offer orbital transport, constellation deployment, and precision reentry services to customers throughout LEO. Led by a team that delivered the most reliable rockets in history, Impulse provides economical and efficient in-space transportation by reliably and rapidly getting customers where they want to go.