Holt Executive are partnered with a US based New Space company who in a joint venture with their European counterparts, develop mission-specific spacecraft and constellation designs.
Officially founded in 2024, this venture is a significant milestone in the group’s strategic expansion. Backed by over 0m raised in 2024, this venture is poised to launch their first satellites in 2025.
We have an exciting opportunity for a Director of Mechanical Engineering to lead the mechanical engineering team.
Key Responsibilities for the Director of Mechanical Engineering:
- Leading and building a small mechanical engineering team, whist being hands on as a contributor to design work.
- Quickly get up to speed on the company’s current spacecraft and in-house subsystem designs.
- Working with engineering teams both onsite, at partner companies’ facilities to develop mechanical, thermal, and structural designs for next generation spacecraft and subsystems.
- Analyze customer needs and payload requirements.
- Leading and creating mechanical layouts and architectures in CAD, own relevant system budgets (mass, weight etc.).
- Working closely with the Integration and Test team relating to the build of qualification and prototype flight spacecraft.
- Work closely with contracting manufacturers when required.
- Define, plan, and conduct environmental test campaigns for qualification and acceptance testing of designs.
- Lead the configuration management, and act as the CAD and PDM admin.
Key Skills & Experience for the Director of Mechanical Engineering:
- A degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineer (equivalent will be considered).
- 10+ years’ experience in the design and analysis of mechanical solutions within the Space industry.
- 5+ years’ experience in leadership positions (Technical Lead, Manager, or Director).
- Experience with new spacecraft design architectures, from top level requirements, launch vehicle packaging, subsystem definition, and the selection of components.
- Strong advanced modeling experience (CAD – SolidWorks preferred).
- Strong experience with configuration management.
- Experience with GD&T (Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing) and Model Based Definition.
- Structural analysis experience (ANSYS Mechanical preferred, or equivalent).
- Knowledge of industry standards, such as NASA GEVS and SMC-S-016.
- Some experience with proposals and interacting with commercial and/or government customers.
- Successfully delivered hardware that has operated on-orbit.
Bonus Experience:
- A PhD in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
- 15+ years’ experience in the design, analysis and test of mechanical solutions in the Space industry.
- 8+ years of leadership experience.
- Experience as a CAD/PLM administrator within SolidWorks.
- Experience with structural and thermal testing, including instrument testing, data analysis, and model correlation.
- Experience performing orbital thermal analysis with Therma Desktop.
- Experience with propulsion systems.
The successful candidate must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
This opportunity is an onsite position in Boulder, Colorado.
