Sr. Mechanical Designer/specialist

Sr. Mechanical Designer

Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.

With Pulsar – the world's most advanced PNT satellite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit – Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.

We are seeking a Sr. Mechanical Designer to join Xona's spacecraft hardware development team in Montréal, at the historic RCA Victor Building in St. Henri. In this role, you will support the design, development, and testing of mechanical systems such as those that enable spacecraft attitude determination and control and improve power performance.

You will work closely with controls, electrical, systems, avionics, and software engineers to help develop high-reliability electromechanical hardware for satellite flight systems. This is a hands-on role involving both electrical design and laboratory testing, with opportunities to contribute throughout the development lifecycle from early prototyping, through spacecraft integration and test and into full scale manufacturing.

What You'll Do

• Own subsystem design authority for assigned hardware, including requirements decomposition from spacecraft-level specs.
• Support the design and development of mechanical subsystems for spacecraft system hardware, with a focus on dynamic mechanical systems and assemblies (ie rotors, bearing design and housing).
• Collaborate with mechatronics engineers on integrated rotor/bearing/housing designs, ensuring mechanical and thermal interfaces meet objectives.
• Lead mechanical and thermal design of components, including active components and housings.
• Assist with development and execution of test plans for prototypes, engineering model, and flight hardware.
• Troubleshoot and debug mechanical assemblies in the lab and develop a detailed test plan for execution (activities such as balancing).
• Support integration of hardware with spacecraft considering the transferred environments.
• Support Design for Manufacturability (DFM) efforts as subsystems transition from prototype to sustained production, including fixture development.
• Assist with hardware bring-up, verification testing, and environmental test campaigns.
• Support supplier component evaluation and selection for mechanical and thermal components.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related field.
• Experience in leading mechanical (dynamic system) hardware design and development from concept to MVP and beyond.
• Familiarity and mechanical CAD (such as solidworks) and finite element modelling and analysis tools for structural, thermal, and dynamic analysis.
• Demonstrated experience designing electric motor drives, engine assemblies, or systems for precision mechanisms and robotics.
• Strong understanding of kinematics and dynamics, including the ability to specify, model, design, and test to those bound.
• Solid fundamentals in machine design, mechanics of materials, and thermodynamics.
• Hands-on experience with mechanical testing equipment (vibration, thermal cycling, etc).
• Strong problem-solving ability and attention to detail.
• Ability to work collaboratively within multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with precision robotics.
• Experience with electric motors and high-speed rotary assemblies.
• Exposure to spacecraft systems, ADCS hardware, or electromechanical control systems.
• Experience supporting hardware integration, assembly, or environmental testing.
• Understanding of control systems and application of control theory.