Senior Mechanical Engineer (Electric Propulsion)

Impulse Space • Redondo Beach, CA

7d

About The Position

As a Senior Mechanical Engineer for our Electric Propulsion Team at Impulse, you will own the full life cycle of mechanical design for our high-efficiency Hall thrusters and their vehicle interfaces. You will develop solutions involving extreme temperatures, exotic material combinations, and exposure to high-energy plasmas. This role is highly collaborative: you will work closely with engineers and technicians across avionics, test, manufacturing, and vehicle engineering to deliver flight‑ready hardware. You’ll thrive here if you enjoy learning new systems and guiding space hardware from initial design through qualification and production.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or related discipline
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in mechanical design and analysis
• Proficiency in CAD, GD&T, and assembly management
• Demonstrated skill in structural analysis, including finite element modeling and hand calculations
• Familiarity with manufacturing processes including CNC machining, additive manufacturing, and welding
• Strong communication skills and demonstrated ability to operate autonomously across teams

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in mechanical design and analysis
• Experience with electric propulsion or other plasma-facing hardware design (fusion systems, experimental research devices, semiconductor manufacturing, thin-film deposition, etc)
• Experience working in a startup or agile development environment
• Demonstrated experience fully owning the design and delivery of hardware for spaceflight
• Strong understanding of material properties, mechanics of materials, and dissimilar material interactions

Responsibilities

• Design, analyze, build, test, and document Hall thruster components/assemblies and vehicle interfaces for electric propulsion system hardware
• Define driving load cases and environments in collaboration with loads/dynamics and thermal teams
• Perform structural and thermal finite element analyses of complex assemblies
• Collaborate with partner teams (avionics, software, test, GNC) to deliver a high performing, integrated system
• Support builds from first article through transition to production, incorporating DFM and reliability improvements with the manufacturing team
• Lead discrepancy investigation and root-cause analyses for issues discovered during development, build, and test
• Support ground testing and flight operations of electric propulsion systems
• Create and review engineering drawings and apply GD&T principles

Benefits

• long-term incentives, in the form of stock options
• access to medical, vision & dental coverage
• access to a 401(k) retirement plan

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior