\*\*About The Role\*\*
You'll be our first mechanical engineer for Dispatch’s reusable reentry vehicles designed for mass manufacturing and the person responsible for turning a heat shield and avionics stack into a flying spacecraft. This is a founding role - you'll own the structural design, mechanisms, and integration of our reentry vehicle from CAD to qualification testing to launch.
At our stage, this means you're doing the analysis and the hands-on build. You'll work directly with both founders on a daily basis. Both founders are ex-Astranis - Andrew led the avionics team, Payton was chief engineer on their next-gen satellite line.
\*\*Responsibilities\*\*
\\- Design the primary vehicle structure (load paths, interfaces, payload volume)
\\- Own mechanical systems: deployment mechanisms, recovery/parachute systems, payload integration hardware
\\- Run structural analysis (FEA) for launch and reentry load environments
\\- Produce engineering drawings with GD&T for fabricated and machined parts
\\- Build and test prototype hardware
\\- Support environmental qualification testing (vibration, thermal vacuum)
\*\*Required Qualifications\*\*
\\- 3+ years designing and building flight hardware (spacecraft, launch vehicles, hypersonics, or missiles)
\\- Strong mechanical design skills: structures, mechanisms, packaging in constrained volumes
\\- Proficiency in CAD (SOLIDWORKS or similar) and FEA tools (Femap or similar)
\\- Hands-on prototyping experience - you've machined, assembled, and tested your own designs
\\- Comfortable working across disciplines at an early-stage company
\*\*Nice to Have\*\*
\\- Experience with reentry vehicles, capsule structures, or high-load environments
\\- Recovery system design (parachutes, airbags, flotation)
\\- Familiarity with rideshare mechanical interface standards (ESPA, Exolaunch deployers)
\\- Thermal protection system integration experience
Role details (from YC):
Compensation: $100K - $170K · 0.25% - 2.00%
Experience: 3+ years
Visa: US citizen/visa only