Outpost

Director of Structures and Mechanisms

Los Angeles, California · Director

Sponsorship not specified$165k-$220kDetected 9 days ago

CybersecurityOKRsSupply ChainPerformance ManagementSolidWorksSiemens NXANSYSFEAStructural AnalysisGD&TLeadershipMentoring

About the role

The Director of Structures and Mechanisms is the executive technical leader for all primary structures, secondary structures, and deployable mechanisms across Outpost's Carryall vehicle.
Unlike traditional space vehicle roles where the structure simply needs to survive launch, you are designing for the round trip: launch vibration, the harsh vacuum of orbit, and the extreme thermal and mechanical loads of hypersonic re-entry and landing.
We need a proven leader with the deep intuition that comes from seeing hardware fly (and fail), and the management experience to scale a world-class team around that expertise.

Build, grow, and lead the Structures & Mechanisms organization. Recruit, mentor, and develop engineers across multiple sub-disciplines (primary structure, mechanisms, TPS, analysis).
Partner cross-functionally to resolve system-level trades. Represent Structures in executive reviews, customer milestone reviews, and with government stakeholders.
Own the release process and quality bar for mechanical manufacturing drawings and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (ASME Y14.5) across the department.
Coordinate with the production team to stablish strategic relationships with machine shops, composite vendors, and external partners. Support make-vs-buy decisions and ensure supply chain resilience for precision flight hardware.
Build, grow, and lead the Structures & Mechanisms organization.
Recruit, mentor, and develop engineers across multiple sub-disciplines (primary structure, mechanisms, TPS, analysis).

Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Structural Engineering.
10+ years of experience in the design and analysis of complex aerospace structures and mechanisms, with at least 3+ years in a management or technical leadership role leading multi-disciplined engineering teams.
Proven track record leading structures on space vehicles or rockets.
Demonstrated experience hiring, scaling, and mentoring engineering teams of 5+ engineers
Experience in structural analysis (FEA) and classical hand calculations.
Working knowledge of aerospace materials (aluminum, titanium, inconel, composites) and their behavior in extreme thermal environments.
Active U.S. Government Security Clearance (not required, but beneficial).
Experience with deployable space structures and mechanisms (booms, solar arrays, antennas, or aerobrakes).
Experience in taking primary structure from concept through PDR/CDR to flight.
Experience designing for high-heat environments or integrating with Thermal Protection Systems (TPS).
comfortable setting OKRs, running performance reviews, and managing costs.
Expert-level fluency in Siemens NX, SolidWorks, or similar parametric modeling software, with the ability to drive standards across the team.
Experience in structural analysis (FEA) and classical hand calculations. You must trust your hand calcs before you trust the solver.
Deep command of CNC machining, sheet metal, and welding with a design-for-manufacturing mindset you can instill across the org.

Brief the CEO, board, customers, and government partners on structural design, risk posture, and program status.

This listing is sourced directly from Outpost's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.