Muon Space · 5 hours ago
Principal Mechanical Engineer
San Jose, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Lead/Staff
$222K/yr - $250K/yr
12+ years expMuon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. They are seeking a Principal Mechanical Engineer to optimize spacecraft designs and mentor the mechanical engineering team, driving improvements in performance and manufacturability.
AerospaceInformation ServicesInformation Technology
No H1B
U.S. Citizen Only
Responsibilities
Serve as a principal technical advisor and domain expert, applying extensive space industry experience to optimize and mature existing spacecraft mechanical designs
Lead architecture refinement efforts to improve performance, reduce mass, lower cost, and enhance manufacturability of current spacecraft platforms
Oversee creative research and innovation strategies; provide guidance on advanced technical issues to leadership; work to rationalize and standardize company-wide standards and principles
Use your flight heritage and lessons learned to identify design improvements and risk reduction opportunities across the spacecraft portfolio
Create roadmaps with 1+ year horizons that influence the future direction of Muon's products in alignment with business objectives and the evolving space industry
Act as a force multiplier by providing strong, hands-on mentorship to mechanical engineers at all levels, developing their technical skills and systems-level thinking
Lead rigorous design reviews, providing constructive feedback that elevates the quality of engineering work across the team
Guide and coach team members on cross-domain execution, helping them understand the interplay between mechanical, thermal, structural, and systems engineering
Contribute broadly to hiring, onboarding, and training of mechanical engineering talent; help build a culture of technical excellence
Document and disseminate best practices, design patterns, and lessons learned to accelerate team development
Manage direct reports of mechanical engineers of all levels, if needed
Apply First Principles engineering and extensive knowledge of theories, practices, and design matters to solve complex, long-term challenges
Lead the application of existing design principles while guiding development of new approaches and standards
Perform and guide stress, dynamic, and thermal analyses to optimize designs including joint design, stiffness analyses, and weight reduction
Work with structural and thermal analysts to iterate and refine designs for performance and manufacturability
Oversee and directly make economically sound make vs. buy decisions, balancing rapid capability demonstration with constellation scale-up requirements
Own delivery of optimized mechanical systems, coordinating multidisciplinary efforts between analysts, avionics, thermal, optical, RF, and program teams
Review and improve existing test practices for vibration, TVAC, and EMI campaigns, applying lessons learned from prior flight programs
Influence design decisions to ensure hardware is optimized for both build efficiency and test effectiveness
Drive products to scale from prototype builds to quantities of hundreds or thousands
Build strong relationships with teams inside and outside Muon, leveraging your industry network and knowledge
Qualification
Required
12+ years of experience designing, building, and testing flight hardware in the space industry, with multiple programs through on-orbit operations
Demonstrated flight heritage—hardware you designed that has successfully operated in space
Proven track record of optimizing and maturing existing designs, not just clean-sheet development
Expert professional and technical knowledge with the ability to guide and role model use of professional concepts in developing solutions to critical issues
Strong mentorship experience with demonstrated success in developing junior and mid-level engineers
Direct or indirect experience leading teams of engineers and/or technicians
Deep competence in one or more of: structural mechanics and analysis, thermal management and modeling, environmental testing (TVAC, vibration)
Extensive documentation capabilities: build procedures, test plans, design trades, best practices guides
Mastery of standard tools: CAD (SolidWorks preferred), PLM, ERP, FEA, test hardware and equipment
Expert-level skills with drawings, GD&T, BOMs, FAIs, tolerance budgets, and mass budgets
Experience managing external vendors for part development and manufacturing
Excellent communication, presentation, and coordination skills
B.S. or higher in Mechanical Engineering or related field
A desire to change the way the world understands and reacts to climate and environmental data
Preferred
Experience as a recognized technical leader or subject matter expert in a spacecraft organization
Prior Principal, Staff, or Lead Engineer title at a space company
Experience with deployable structures (solar arrays, antennas, mechanisms)
Optomechanical instrument or payload design experience
Experience with reaction wheels, torque rods, star trackers, or other ADCS components
Experience with deployable hardware
Large assembly management in SolidWorks PDM, Duro, or similar PLM
Experience running structural analyses (FEMAP, ANSYS)
Software skills in Python, MATLAB, or similar
Experience qualifying external vendors and contract manufacturers
Track record of establishing engineering standards at an organizational level
Benefits
Equity compensation
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
401k retirement plan
Short & long term disability
Life insurance
Three weeks paid vacation for new employees
12 paid holidays
Unlimited sick time
Paid parental leave
Company
Muon Space
Muon Space is a space systems company that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations for earth intelligence missions.
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$225.8MKey Investors
United States Space ForceCongruent VenturesActivate Capital Partners
2025-10-08Grant· $44.6M
2025-06-12Series B· $44.5M
2025-06-12Debt Financing· $45M
Leadership Team
Jonathan Dyer
CEO
Dan McCleese
Co-Founder & Chief Scientist
Recent News
Business Insider
2025-12-25
Company data provided by crunchbase