Mechanical Engineer (Payload Module Jettison Systems)

About the role

At Stoke, we believe a thriving space economy will enable a vibrant, sustainable, and equitable future here on Earth. That is why we're building Nova, our fully and rapidly reusable launch vehicle. Designed for daily flight, Nova tackles the core challenges of space transportation by reducing cost, increasing availability, and improving reliability. By radically lowering launch costs and increasing flight cadence, we're helping create a truly scalable space industry.

Our team is mission-driven, collaborative, and empowered to take ownership of their work. If you want to work alongside some of the most dedicated and talented people on Earth, we'd love to have you join us.

About the role

We're looking for a Mechanical Engineer with rock-solid fundamentals, a love of mechanisms, and a bias for action to own the payload fairing jettison system on Nova. You'll own the system end to end: the separation and clearance analysis, the pneumatics, actuators, and mechanisms that make it work, the integrated tests that prove it, and the operation and reuse of that hardware after flight.

You'll carry the current system to flight and help define the next generation of separation and deployment systems for our reusable fairing. If you want one critical system that is yours from analysis to flight, this role is for you.

Responsibilities

• Own the fairing jettison system from requirements definition and analysis through verification, vehicle integration, flight operations, refurbishment, and reuse
• Develop and run jettison dynamics and clearance analyses, including dispersions, to show margin for each mission; derive system requirements and loads, and correlate the analysis to test data
• Design, analyze, procure, qualify, and integrate pneumatics, actuators, and mechanisms
• Create CAD models and manufacturing drawings with proper GD&T
• Work directly with machinists, technicians, and suppliers to build and test your hardware, on schedule and on budget
• Plan and run integrated jettison tests, from development through qualification
• Troubleshoot failures, disposition non-conformances, and drive root cause corrective action
• Lead design reviews and communicate technical decisions clearly
• Run trade studies on separation and deployment architectures for our next-generation reusable fairing, payload adapters, and dispensers

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
• 5+ years of hands-on engineering experience designing, building, and testing hardware
• Exceptional command of mechanical engineering fundamentals (statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, heat transfer, fluid mechanics)
• Experience designing, analyzing, and testing pneumatics, actuators, or mechanisms
• Proficiency with 3D CAD and creating detailed manufacturing drawings
• Working knowledge of GD&T per ASME Y14.5
• Experience with structural analysis, both hand calcs and FEA
• Hands-on test experience: test plans, instrumentation, running tests, and correlating data back to analysis
• Proven ability to take ownership, work independently, and deliver results
• Strong communication skills: you can explain complex problems simply

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with multibody dynamics analysis (Adams, Simscape Multibody, LS-Dyna, or similar) and Monte Carlo dispersion analysis
• Familiarity with design and qualification to NASA-STD-5017 and AIAA S-114
• Experience with launch vehicle separation systems: fairing jettison, stage separation, or payload separation
• Experience with NX, ANSYS, and Femap (or similar tools)
• Experience designing for launch vehicle environments (vibration, shock, vacuum, thermal cycle)
• Experience with reusable hardware: inspection, refurbishment, and life tracking
• Exposure to separation electrical systems, separating connectors, or harness routing
• Experience in fast-paced startup or rapid development environments
• Track record of shipping hardware from first principles through flight

Benefits

• Equity - We know that our employees are the reason we succeed. To give everyone a stake in our future, we are pleased to offer equity in the form of stock options to all regular, full-time employees.
• Comprehensive benefits program including subsidized medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Company-paid life and disability insurance
• 401(k) plan with employer match
• 4 weeks' Paid Time Off
• Holidays - 10 days (including an end-of-year closure)
• Paid Family/Parental Leave
• On-site gym or monthly wellness stipend (depending on location)
• Dog friendly offices!

Compensation

Target Levels

• Level 2 Range: $109,725 - $148,470
• Level 3 Range: $129,150 - $193,620

Our job posts are intentionally written to attract a wide variety of experience levels, and we make decisions about the right fit on a per-candidate basis.

Your actual level and base salary will be decided based on your specific experience and skill level.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S. (i.e., current Green Card holder), or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).