Job Title: Senior Mechanical Design Engineer- Space Industry
Location: Initially fully remote but flexible once UK premises open (planned for 2025).
Employment Type: Full time staff contract
Salary and benefits: To be agreed
Job Summary:
Astrostructures are looking for an experienced mechanical design engineer to join the team as we grow and gain more projects. This is an exciting opportunity to work on cutting edge technology on some of the most interesting space projects. As a small dynamic team, the design engineer will be involved with all stages of the project and should be able to work independently as well as collaboratively, to design components, subassemblies and assemblies, support procurement and/or manufacture, as well as assembly and testing. Following the design, the designer should be able to produce the required reports, manufacturing drawings, and outputs needed and present these to the client.
As Astrostructures works primarily in the space industry but also has exciting projects in the novel renewables sector, the designer should have experience with design and testing of components that can withstand very high (1000K+) or very low (100K) temperatures and hostile environments. Experience of design for space would be desirable but not essential. A good understanding of the thermal behaviours of materials is essential.
Key Responsibilities:
* Creating, updating and maintaining 3D designs for parts, subassemblies, and assemblies,
* Creating manufacturing drawings,
* Creating, reviewing, and authorising design reports and project documentation,
* Supporting procurement of designed parts, and directly speaking to manufacturers and suppliers,
* Providing guidance to less experienced engineers,
* Performing reviews of designs and project documentation created by others,
* Working with the Thermal Engineer,
* Working with the Mechanical Engineer,
* Speaking with the client and discussing the design and design options,
* Problem solving and de-bugging parts and components,
* Interfacing with others in the Astrostructures team, the client team, manufacturers, and others in industry at exhibitions and conferences.
* Reporting progress to the Project Manager and inputting into the reporting process to the client.
* Managing time and sticking to deadlines to keep projects on track, working alongside the Project Manager to manage time/budget spend.
Qualifications and Requirements:
* Experience creating parts, assembles, and drawings using SolidWorks or Catia V5 is essential,
* BEng Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering degree.
Desired Attributes:
* Keen to try new things, and happy to take on new challenges,
* Flexible and happy to adapt as different projects bring different challenges,
* Able and keen to take part in all parts of the process from writing requirements to assembly and testing,
* Strong analytical skills,
* Able to work well with a small team and supervise less experienced members,
* Ability to engage with suppliers and manufacturers is essential,
* Happy to work 100% remotely initially before the UK facility is open.
* Great problem-solving skills as Astrostructures develops technologies that are first of their kind and solve problems nobody has yet solved.
Experience:
* 5-10 years mechanical design experience including design, manufacture, assembly and testing,
* A good understanding of the thermal behaviours of materials is essential,
* Design for space/ aerospace and very high (1000K+) or very low (100K) temperature environments for mechanical parts,
* Designing to specific requirements from system engineering documents, generation of verification documents, and demonstrating compliance with requirements.
* Desirable but not essential: Exposure to thermal engineering projects (some knowledge of heat transfer is a plus),
* Desirable but not essential: the design for components in a vacuum at cryogenic and super high temperatures,
* Desirable but not essential: design of mechanical and thermal ground support equipment to supplement vibration, shock, and vacuum thermal cycling tests including transport containers, thermal control components, and test fixtures,
* Desirable but not essential: Experience in handling and assembling hardware in general, and space hardware in particular would be a great advantage,
* Desirable but not essential: Bid writing for ESA, or other grant/government bodies
Who We Are
Astrostructures is a UK based space engineering consultancy founded with the vision of providing complete thermal and mechanical space project support. Our focus is to deliver reliable, high quality space hardware. Starting from concept creation all the way to qualification and acceptance, we take care of all the details, and support hardware testing, logistics, and integration.
Our expertise comes from years of experience working on high-quality scientific European Space Agency (ESA) space instruments with applications ranging from CCD cameras to planetary rovers. Our competence and passion are proven by our successful track record delivering projects to some of the most important stakeholders in the European Space Industry.
We are a small but capable team of engineers. We love what we do, and we want to be the best at it. We’re a small, dynamic team, excited for the next challenge of our ever-changing projects, we plan to grow this team with other enthusiastic problem solvers in 2025 as we take on more projects. Working with a small team will allow the suitable candidate to shape their career and can be flexible to fit the candidate’s preferred working pattern.
We are a small team who believe in personal and collective growth. The person we are looking for would ideally enjoy working independently using their own initiative – we do not micromanage. Instead, we encourage our team members to become key individuals in the business and grow with the company, led by their own interests and goals, and company goals.
We currently are working fully remote but plan to open a physical UK premises in 2025, where we will have manufacturing, assembly and testing spaces.
Closing date Monday 17th March 2025.
How to Apply
We would like a cover letter outlining your experience and how it meets our criteria as well as a CV.