Director of Structures and Mechanisms

Director of Structures and Mechanisms 

Location: Playa Vista California (in-person five days per week) 

About Outpost 

Launch has changed the economics of space. Now it is time to return. Outpost is building the missing infrastructure between orbit and Earth: reusable vehicles that bring payloads back from space and deliver them to a precise location within hours exologistics at planetary scale. Core technologies are advancing toward flight readiness and we've validated demand through multiple defense and civil agreements with a growing commercial pipeline. We're scaling rapidly this is the point where execution and scale define the outcome. 

The Role 

The Director of Structures and Mechanisms is the executive technical leader for all primary structures secondary structures and deployable mechanisms across Outpost's Carryall vehicle. This role combines deep structural engineering expertise with leadership you will build scale and lead a multi-disciplinary team of structures mechanisms and mechanical engineers while owning the architecture analysis qualification and flight certification of the entire structural system. 

Unlike traditional space vehicle roles where the structure simply needs to survive launch you are designing for the round trip: launch vibration the harsh vacuum of orbit and the extreme thermal and mechanical loads of hypersonic re-entry and landing. You will own the technical execution of every structural element on the vehicle with full accountability to executive leadership for overall flight readiness. We need a proven leader with the deep intuition that comes from seeing hardware fly (and fail) and the management experience to scale a world-class team around that expertise. 

Responsibilities 

• Build grow and lead the Structures & Mechanisms organization. Recruit mentor and develop engineers across multiple sub-disciplines (primary structure mechanisms TPS analysis) 

• Serve as the final sign-off for the structural architecture of the vehicle including primary structure interfaces to the deployable heatshield secondary structures deployable mechanisms and payload bay 

• Partner cross-functionally to resolve system-level trades. Represent Structures in executive reviews customer milestone reviews and with government stakeholders 

• Establish and enforce analysis standards across the team — hand calculations FEA (ANSYS/FEMAP/NASTRAN) stiffness buckling fatigue and thermal expansion compatibility. Be the final technical check on margin policy and verification logic 

• Own the release process and quality bar for mechanical manufacturing drawings and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (ASME Y14.5) across the department 

• Coordinate with the production team on structural qualification campaign end-to-end — static load random vibration shock deployment and environmental testing — to certify hardware for flight. 

• Coordinate with the production team to stablish strategic relationships with machine shops composite vendors and external partners. Support make-vs-buy decisions and ensure supply chain resilience for precision flight hardware. 

• Brief the CEO board customers and government partners on structural design risk posture and program status. 

Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical Aerospace or Structural Engineering 

• 10+ years of experience in the design and analysis of complex aerospace structures and mechanisms with at least 3+ years in a management or technical leadership role leading multi-disciplined engineering teams. 

• Proven track record leading structures on full space vehicles or rockets (not just subsystems) 

• Demonstrated experience hiring scaling and mentoring engineering teams of 5+ engineers; comfortable setting OKRs running performance reviews and managing costs 

• Expert-level fluency in Siemens NX SolidWorks or similar parametric modeling software with the ability to drive standards across the team 

• Deep background in structural analysis (FEA) and classical hand calculations. You must trust your hand calcs before you trust the solver 

• Extensive understanding of aerospace materials (aluminum titanium inconel composites) and their behavior in extreme thermal environments 

• Deep command of CNC machining sheet metal and welding with a design-for-manufacturing mindset you can instill across the org 

Preferred Experience 

• Active U.S. Government Security Clearance (not required but beneficial)

• Experience with deployable space structures and mechanisms (booms solar arrays antennas or aerobrakes) 

• Experience in taking primary structure from concept through PDR/CDR to flight 

• Experience designing for high-heat environments or integrating with Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) 

• Deep knowledge of aerospace standards (NASA-STD-5000 series SMC-S-016) for structural margins and testing 

• Prior experience as a Director Chief Engineer or department head at a launch reentry satellite or hypersonics company 

Compensation & Benefits 

• $165000 – $220000; Salary may vary with experience

• Incentive Stock Options  

• Annual Performance-Based Bonus 

• Medical Dental and Vision Insurance 

• Short- and Long-Term Disability Insurance 

• Life Insurance 

• PTO 

• 401k with Company match 

• Subsidized daily catered lunch snacks and coffee 

What We Do

We’re developing reusable vehicles that bring payloads home from orbit safely and precisely enabling faster in-space manufacturing global delivery and entirely new capabilities in the space economy.

Why Work With Us

We’re a mission-driven team that moves with urgency and cares deeply about the work and the people doing it. We are scaling. That means ownership from day one. You will not be a small cog in a massive program. You will design hardware test it iterate it and watch it move toward flight.

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