Mechanical Engineer II, Solar & Deployables

About the company

Muon Space is the Mission Foundry that designs, builds, and operates high-performance satellite constellations for defense, civil, and commercial customers.

About this role

<h2><strong>About the role</strong></h2> <p>Muon seeks a Mechanical Engineer to design and build hardware for our new Solar &amp; Deployables group — the team responsible for the solar arrays and deployable systems that power our spacecraft. Working alongside the group's senior and staff engineers, you'll take real ownership of components and assemblies: designing them, releasing them, prototyping them, and proving them out in test.</p> <p>This is a hands-on design role with a fast build-test-learn loop. You'll see your hardware go from CAD to flight, and you'll help carry designs from first prototypes through constellation-quantity production.</p> <p class="p1">This position is hybrid and requires working on-site in our San Jose, CA office three days per week.</p> <h2><strong>Responsibilities</strong></h2> <ul> <li>Design components and assemblies for solar arrays and deployable systems — structures, mechanism components, and supporting hardware — from concept through detailed design and release</li> <li>Produce and release engineering documentation: drawings, GD&amp;T, BOMs, and tolerance stacks under configuration control</li> <li>Build and test prototypes to evaluate design concepts and retire risk early</li> <li>Support qualification and acceptance test campaigns, including deployment testing with gravity offload and environmental test (vibration, TVAC)</li> <li>Perform first-order engineering analysis — margins, stiffness, and sizing hand calcs — to guide your designs, working with the group's analysts on detailed FEA</li> <li>Design test fixtures, GSE, and tooling that make hardware fast and repeatable to build and test</li> <li>Work with vendors on part fabrication, and support build procedures and work instructions for production</li> <li>Present your work in design reviews and incorporate feedback from senior engineers across disciplines</li> </ul> <h2><strong>Required Qualifications</strong></h2> <ul> <li>5+ years of experience designing, building, and testing mechanical hardware</li> <li>Strong CAD skills (SolidWorks preferred) for component and assembly design</li> <li>Solid command of drawings, GD&amp;T, BOMs, and tolerance stacks</li> <li>Hands-on prototyping and test experience with a bias for learning through hardware</li> <li>Familiarity with common fabrication methods (machining, sheet metal, composites, or additive)</li> <li>Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with a strong desire to learn in a fast-paced environment</li> <li>B.S. or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field</li> </ul> <h2><strong>Nice-to-have Skills</strong></h2> <ul> <li>Experience with spacecraft hardware, deployables, or precision mechanisms</li> <li>Structural analysis experience: hand calculations or FEA (FEMAP/NASTRAN, ANSYS, or similar)</li> <li>Experience with environmental testing (vibration, TVAC, shock)</li> <li>Composite panel or bonded-joint design experience</li> <li>Experience with PLM systems and ECO/DCO processes</li> <li>Software skills in Python, MATLAB, or similar</li> </ul> <h2><strong>Salary</strong></h2> <p>The salary range for this role is <span data-sheets-root="1">$144,000 - $177,000</span>, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.&nbsp;</p><div class="content-conclusion"><h2><strong>About Muon Space</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.</span></p> <h2><strong>Taking Care of Our Team</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short &amp; long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too.&nbsp; Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We value diversity in the workplace, and that starts with our applicants. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check all the boxes, and we look forward to reviewing your application! In addition, if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.</span></p> <h2><strong>ITAR/EAR Requirements</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and