Description
Mechanical Engineer
Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week)
The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us.
Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewriting the rules of global logistics by building reusable Earth-return vehicles that unlock in-space manufacturing, on-orbit warehousing, and 60-minute global delivery through space.
Our CarryAll vehicle family returns payloads ranging from 200 kilograms to 10 metric tons, lands within 10 meters of its target, and can then be refurbished and launched again. One vehicle, many missions: responsive logistics and precision delivery for national security; commercial cargo moved with real cadence; R&D payloads flown, tested, and refined across repeatable cycles; and critical aid delivered where roads and runways can’t reach.
The demand is already here, validated through defense and civil agreements and supported by a growing pipeline of government and commercial customers.
We have the customers, the team, and a clear technical path ahead of us. We’re building the return lane. Come build it with us.
The Role
Outpost's vehicles are unlike anything in the market, reusable, fabric-shielded, paraglider-guided Earth-return spacecraft. We're looking for a Mechanical Engineer who will own the design and delivery of flight and ground hardware for our Atmospheric Entry (ATMO) subsystem, the hardware that keeps customer payloads safe from launch through landing.
This role spans the full engineering lifecycle, design, analysis, drawing release, build support, and test. You'll work alongside an integrated team and have meaningful ownership of your hardware from day one.
What You’ll Do
- Design and develop mechanical systems for atmospheric recovery, including deployable structures, aerodynamic decelerators, recovery mechanisms, airframe interfaces, and precision landing hardware from requirements through release, build support, and qualification.
- Develop CDR-level design packages: CAD, drawings, specifications, analysis, and test plans.
- Define and manage hardware requirements, interface with mission operations and payload customers.
- Perform or coordinate structural and thermal analysis to verify hardware margins.
- Write and execute qualification and acceptance test procedures, support environmental test campaigns.
- Participate in peer reviews and formal milestone reviews (CDR, TRR, etc.).
- Drive design reviews (PDR/CDR) and prepare clear documentation, drawings, BOMs, and work instructions.
- Perform other duties as required.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Systems Engineering.
- 5-10 years designing flight hardware structures and mechanisms.
- Experience taking hardware from concept to production and/or flight.
- Strong proficiency in CAD (SolidWorks, NX, or similar) and mechanical analysis tools (structural/thermal in Ansys - Solidworks).
- Experience designing structures, mechanisms, deployables, or aerodynamic structures (parachutes/paragliders, flaps, linkages, hinges, etc.).
- Understanding of load path, interfaces, and environmental requirements for high-energy flight environments.
- Experience executing rapid, hands-on prototypes to support fast design–build–test cycles.
- Excellent documentation, communication, and technical writing skills.
- Understanding of spacecraft environmental requirements (launch loads, shock, vibration, thermal).
- Write and read engineering requirements and interface control documents.
- Strong cross-functional communication - you'll work daily with systems, integration, and test engineers.
Preferred Experience
- Experience taking hardware through at least one formal design review (PDR or CDR); exposure to qualification testing strongly preferred.
- Experience with reentry systems, atmospheric flight vehicles, TPS interfaces, or parachute/paraglider systems.
- Background integrating soft goods with rigid structures.
- Experience in hypersonic, supersonic, or high-aero-load environments.
- Field test experience (drop tests, flight tests, parachute deployments, etc.).
- Familiarity with DOF-limited mechanisms and precision actuation in harsh environments.
Compensation & Benefits
- Competitive compensation: $125,000 – $160,000; (commensurate with experience).
- Additional Compensation: Annual performance-based bonuses that reward your impact.
- Shared upside: Meaningful equity in Outpost so you share directly in the value you help create.
- Comprehensive healthcare: Medical, dental, and vision coverage to keep you and your loved ones covered. We cover the base tier of medical insurance and all premiums of vision and dental.
- Protection when it matters: Company-provided short- and long-term disability coverage for peace of mind, plus life insurance for even more security.
- PTO: Recharge on your own terms with paid time off, plus 9 days of paid holidays.
- Invest in your future: 401(k) with company match to help you build long-term wealth.
- Fueled for the mission: Daily DoorDash lunch stipend, plus unlimited snacks, coffee, and tea to keep you energized.
- Mission that matters: Work shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders from aerospace, new space, and deep-tech industries building the future of orbital infrastructure.
- Pet Friendly Office: Bring your furry friend into the office so that they can be a part of our mission too.
- s
Similar jobs
Est. 300,000 USD
VP Vehicle Engineering Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week) The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us. Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewriting the rules of…
Est. 222,500 USD
Senior Mechanical Engineer Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week) The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us. Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewriting the rules…
Est. 144,000 USD
Senior GNC Engineer Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week) The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us. Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewriting the rules of glo…
Est. 175,000 USD
Principal GNC Engineer Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week) The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us. Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewriting the rules of…
Est. 200,000 USD
Director of Structures and Mechanisms Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week) The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us. Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewritin…
Est. 140,000 USD
Senior Structure Analysis Engineer Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week) The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us. Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewriting t…
Est. 120,000 USD
General Application 2026 Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week) The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us. Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewriting the rules o…
Est. 180,000 USD
Senior Avionics Engineer Location: Playa Vista, California (in-person, five days per week) The return lane isn’t going to build itself. Come build it with us. Outpost is an orbital logistics company rewriting the rules o…
Est. 124,000 USD
SOFTWARE ENGINEER (EMBEDDED) Freeform builds AI-native manufacturing systems that unify software, hardware, and physics to produce industrial-scale parts at the speed of human ideation. By treating manufacturing as a sin…
Est. 85,000 USD
SENIOR ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (MECHANICAL SYSTEMS) Freeform builds AI-native manufacturing systems that unify software, hardware, and physics to produce industrial-scale parts at the speed of human ideation. By treating…
ABOUT ROCKET LAB Rocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, expand humanity’s reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We move f…
ABOUT ROCKET LAB Rocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, expand humanity’s reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We move f…
Est. 95,000 USD
About Us Maybell Quantum is redefining the future of computing. As a venture-backed quantum hardware innovator experiencing rapid growth, we're building technology that will transform industries for decades to come. Quan…
Est. 175,000 USD
K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Alt…
Est. 115,000 USD
Space is a warfighting domain. True Anomaly seeks those with the talent and ambition to build the technology that secures it. OUR MISSION True Anomaly delivers decisive capabilities for space superiority. We build autono…
Est. 65,000 GBP
Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the country in which the role is being hired. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.Mark43’s mission is to empower…
Est. 124,000 USD
About the Company At Torc, we have always believed that autonomous vehicle technology will transform how we travel, move freight, and do business. A leader in autonomous driving since 2007, Torc has spent over a decade c…
Est. 141,000 USD
Who You Are You are a senior-level engineer with experience across AWS, Azure, and/or GCP environments who can architect scalable solutions, improve operational efficiency through automation, and collaborate across infra…
Est. 115,000 USD
At Relativity Space, we’re building rockets to serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s breakthroughs. Our Terran R vehicle will deliver customer payloads to orbit, meeting the growing demand for launch capacity. But that’s ju…
Est. 250,000 USD
Maybell Quantum is redefining the future of computing. As a venture-backed quantum hardware innovator experiencing rapid growth, we're building technology that will transform industries for decades to come. Quantum compu…
Est. 140,000 USD
About Us Maybell Quantum is redefining the future of computing. As a venture-backed quantum hardware innovator experiencing rapid growth, we're building technology that will transform industries for decades to come. Quan…
Est. 144,000 USD
About the Company At Torc, we have always believed that autonomous vehicle technology will transform how we travel, move freight, and do business. A leader in autonomous driving since 2007, Torc has spent over a decade c…
ABOUT ROCKET LAB Rocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, expand humanity’s reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We move f…
Est. 95,000 USD
About the job For 41 years, Rewards Network has been helping restaurants grow revenue, increase traffic, and boost customer engagement through innovative financial, marketing services, and premier dining rewards programs…
Est. 110,000 USD
About the Company At Torc, we have always believed that autonomous vehicle technology will transform how we travel, move freight, and do business. A leader in autonomous driving since 2007, Torc has spent over a decade c…
Est. 125,000 USD
K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Alt…
Est. 250,000 USD
Vice President of Research & Development About Us Maybell Quantum is redefining the future of computing. As a venture-backed quantum hardware innovator experiencing rapid growth, we're building technology that will t…
Est. 100,000 USD
About the job For 41 years, Rewards Network has been helping restaurants grow revenue, increase traffic, and boost customer engagement through innovative financial, marketing services, and premier dining rewards programs…
ABOUT ROCKET LAB Rocket Lab is the end-to-end space company building rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems that keep the world connected, protected, expand humanity’s reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. We move f…
Est. 163,170 USD
Real people. Real service. At SupplyHouse.com, we value every individual team member and cultivate a community where people come first. Led by our core values of Generosity, Respect, Innovation, Teamwork, and GRIT, we’re…