Senior Mechanical Engineer (Structures)

• Location: Los Angeles (Hawthorne), CA

• Employment Type: Full-time

• Department: Starlight Solar

• Travel: Occasional

Starpath develops and manufactures the technologies that will enable humans to live on the Moon and Mars. Today, we are building robotic systems that locally produce the essential commodities a lunar civilization will require at extreme scale: water, power, and oxygen. Our ultimate goal is to build and operate a self-sustaining city on Mars.

The Starlight team is focused on dramatically improving space solar power to support Starpath’s core mission and the broader space economy. Starlight manufactures the lowest-cost, highest-performance space solar power systems, which will power the majority of new satellites built on Earth and all of Starpath’s equipment on the Moon and Mars.

As a Senior Mechanical Engineer on the Structures team, you will own the structural architecture, design, analysis, and qualification of Starlight’s solar array hardware. You will serve as a technical authority for lightweight space structures, resolving complex design and integration challenges from early trade studies through flight qualification and production.

• Own structural systems from architecture through detailed design, analysis, fabrication, qualification, and flight

• Establish structural requirements, load cases, factors of safety, margin policies, and verification approaches

• Lead architectural trades involving mass, stiffness, strength, reliability, manufacturability, cost, and system performance

• Develop efficient load paths and lightweight primary and secondary structures, interfaces, brackets, housings, and mechanisms

• Perform and review hand calculations and FEA covering stress, stiffness, buckling, fatigue, joints, thermal distortion, modal response, and dynamic environments

• Develop and maintain structural models, loads documentation, margin summaries, and verification records

• Own material, fastener, joint, finish, and manufacturing-process selections for the launch and space environments

• Define structural qualification and acceptance-test programs covering static load, vibration, shock, and modal testing

• Lead test-to-model correlation and use test results to improve both hardware and analytical models

• Lead structural design reviews, failure investigations, risk-reduction efforts, and corrective actions

• Work across thermal, avionics, mechanisms, controls, and systems teams to define interfaces and resolve coupled design challenges

• Partner with manufacturing and suppliers to develop repeatable fabrication, inspection, assembly, and production processes

• Identify structural risks early and create focused analysis or testing plans to retire them

• Mentor engineers and establish sound structural design, analysis, documentation, and test practices

• Drive mass reduction and design simplification without compromising structural integrity

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, structural engineering, or a related discipline

• 6+ years of professional mechanical-design or structural-engineering experience

• Demonstrated ownership of complex structural hardware from concept through qualification or production

• Strong command of structural mechanics, load paths, joints, stress, stiffness, buckling, fatigue, and structural dynamics

• Proficiency with 3D CAD, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and detailed engineering drawings

• Advanced experience performing and reviewing structural analysis using hand calculations and FEA

• Experience defining structural test programs and correlating analytical models with test data

• Hands-on experience building, testing, troubleshooting, and improving mechanical hardware

• Ability to lead technical decisions, communicate risk clearly, and coordinate across engineering and manufacturing teams

• Evidence of exceptional engineering ability

• Advanced degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, structural engineering, or a related discipline

• Experience owning structures that have survived launch and operated in space

• Advanced proficiency with Nastran, Abaqus, Ansys, Femap, or similar FEA tools

• Experience with quasi-static loads, random vibration, shock response, modal analysis, thermal distortion, fatigue, and coupled-loads analysis

• Experience leading static load, vibration, shock, and modal qualification campaigns

• Expertise in test planning, instrumentation, data interpretation, and test-to-model correlation

• Experience designing lightweight structures across machined, sheet-metal, welded, composite, and bonded construction

• Deep knowledge of aerospace materials, fasteners, joint design, and structural margin policies

• Experience with deployable structures, hinges, latches, actuators, or other spacecraft mechanisms

• Familiarity with NASA-STD-5001, GEVS, and other applicable aerospace structural standards

• Experience transitioning flight hardware from prototype development into repeatable production

EAR Requirements:

• To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, you must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity:

• Starpath is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Benefits:

At Starpath Robotics, base pay is just one part of your total rewards package. We also offer:

• Generous benefits including health, dental, vision, and retirement plans.

• Paid time off, holidays, and flexible policies to support balance.

• Professional growth opportunities through training and development.

• The chance to own high-impact work that directly shapes the future of robotics & space!

• A collaborative, mission-driven culture where craftsmanship and innovation are celebrated.