Senior/Staff Vehicle Structures Engineer

The Senior/Staff Vehicle Structures Engineer is responsible for design, analysis, and integration of the primary and secondary structure for a cutting-edge hypersonic vehicle. This individual will be part of the technical organization, responsible for structural design, material selection, and ensuring airframe components meet extreme aerodynamic and thermal loads. This role will have ownership of vehicle hardware through the full lifecycle development from concept through flight testing.

Responsibilities

• Own the structural design and development of a hypersonic airframe components, including primary and secondary load-bearing structures.
• Assess structural load paths and materials to withstand high-speed flight environments.
• Support detailed structural analysis, including stress, thermal, vibration, and impact loading.
• Drive integration of composites, metals, and thermal protection systems for optimal vehicle performance.
• Collaborate with interfacing teams to ensure seamless hardware integration.
• Assemble and test first article prototypes.
• Execute structural test campaigns, including static, dynamic, and flight tests.
• Interface with contractors, suppliers, and manufacturing teams to ensure design feasibility and production readiness.
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior engineers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• 6-8+ years of experience in structural design and analysis for high-speed vehicles, aerospace platforms, or launch systems.
• Deep knowledge in composite structures, metallic airframes, and advanced materials.
• Experience with CAD tools (e.g., CATIA, NX, SolidWorks) for structural design.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing techniques, including composites layup, machining, and additive manufacturing.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with hypersonic vehicles, reentry systems, or high-Mach flight platforms.
• Knowledge of thermal protection systems and integrated aerothermal-structural design.
• Proficiency in FEA tools such as ANSYS, Abaqus, or NASTRAN for structural analysis.
• Hands-on experience with flight testing and structural validation.

Colorado law requires us to tell you the base compensation range of this role, which is $130,000- $170,000, determined by your education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities. The salary range for this role is intentionally wide as we are evaluating individuals based on their unique experience and abilities to fit our needs. Most importantly, we are excited to meet you, and see if you are a great fit for our team. What we can’t quantify for you are the exciting challenges, supportive team, and amazing culture we enjoy.