What are the responsibilities and job description for the Mechanical & Structural Engineer position at Theron Solutions?
Mechanical & Structural Engineer
We are looking for a Mechanical & Structural Engineer with 5 years of experience to join as a founding engineer and own the entire mechanical and structural discipline of our compute-native satellites. You'll be the linchpin responsible for designing the physical satellite — primary structure, deployable solar arrays, and radiator mechanisms — that make the AI inference possible. This is a ground-floor opportunity to work shoulder-to-shoulder with our founding thermal/power systems engineer, guiding designs with contract manufacturers as we push toward our mission. We need someone with real spacecraft flight experience who can be a driving force and carry true ownership of this critical engineering domain.
What will you be doing?
- Designing the satellite structure alongside contract manufacturers — daily collaboration, design iteration, troubleshooting, and trade-off decisions on cost, weight, and efficiency
- Owning deployable systems (solar arrays and radiators) — designing mechanisms that fold into the satellite bus and reliably unfold in orbit with no second chances
- Running and parsing structural analysis (FEA, modal analysis, launch loads, vibration) — coordinating with manufacturing partners and providing informed opinions on results
- Solving radiation shielding challenges to protect GPUs in orbit, working with materials like aluminum, titanium, silicon, and composites
- Translating the constellation-scale mission into actionable engineering requirements that guide external partners through early design phases
Seniority
- 5 - 20 years of experience in spacecraft mechanical/structural engineering, with flight hardware experience
Work Experience
- Flight experience on launched spacecraft
- Experience with satellite constellation programs specifically
Education
- BS or higher in mechanical/structural/aerospace engineering
Hard Skills
- Deployable structures experience — solar arrays, radiators, booms, or antennas
- Structural FEA proficiency (NASTRAN, ANSYS, or ABAQUS)
- Materials experience: aluminum, titanium, CFRP, radiation shielding
Soft Skills
- Mission-driven, low-ego problem solver comfortable with full ownership
Miscellaneous
- Must be on-site 5 days/week in Los Angeles
- US citizenship required (ITAR/space work)
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Our client is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Any Kind: We are committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at our client are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, HIV Status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.