Mechanical Engineering Lead - Avionics at Firefly Aerospace

Careers

Dream Big at Firefly

View Job Openings Firefly Overview for Career Page from Firefly Marketing on Vimeo Playing in picture-in-picture (opens a new window) 2x 1.5x 1.25x 1x 0.75x 0.5x

Life at Firefly

At Firefly, we’re focused on making space attainable for everyone – including you! Each team member’s passion, dedication, and innovative ideas have a direct impact on fueling our successful trajectory into space. And there’s no shortage of meaningful projects to work on at Firefly. With launch, lunar, and orbital vehicles, Firefly has a diverse line of business with opportunities to get hands-on experience launching rockets, operating in space, and landing on the Moon.

fireflyaerospace

402 65,646

This World Space Week, remember to look up and...

739 3 Open 739 3

Happy National Manufacturing Day! 🛠️
...

1181 12 Open 1181 12

Say hello to RTx 👋🏼
RTx is a...

665 4 Open 665 4

The engine powering Alpha`s first stage is truly...

816 4 Open 816 4

More cleanroom space. More spacecraft in...

677 4 Open 677 4

Production is ramping up!
From our engines...

1993 17 Open 1993 17

Twenty-five years later, we remember the lives...

355 1 Open 355 1

In this Manufacturing Minute, our Tooling...

319 9 Open 319 9

Our Values

Headquartered in the Lone Star State, Firefly’s hardworking team reflects Texas’ GO BIG culture in everything we do. We build big, achieve big, and dream big. We’re building launch vehicles and spacecraft to provide rapid, reliable space access. We’ve achieved some incredible wins, including the first successful commercial Moon landing. And we’re dreaming bigger than this planet with ambitions to Mars, Venus, and beyond. Our core values are what drive us along the way.

Passion

Fireflies believe in perseverance, responsiveness, and mentoring others with a focus on inspiring a better future.

Accountability

Fireflies act with integrity and take ownership of our actions, commitments, decisions, and outcomes.

Collaboration

Fireflies work in alignment across teams and communicate clearly with mutual respect for one another.

Excellence

Fireflies deliver high-quality work through technical rigor and timely disciplined execution for our customers.

Our Benefits

We take care of our Fireflies with some of the best benefits in the industry. Our mission to make space for everyone starts with our employees and allowing them to make space for their family, their career, and their future.

Space for You

• Unlimited PTO for exempt employees
• 3-month sabbatical for every 5 years of service
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
• Mental health services
• Paid military leave

Space for Your Family

• 12 weeks paid maternity leave
• 4 weeks paid spouse leave
• $20k towards family planning: fertility, surrogacy, adoption
• Dog friendly workplace

Space for Your Career

• $10k/year towards trade school or college
• $2k/year for professional development
• Ongoing coaching to advance leadership skills

Space for Your Future

• Employee-ownership with stock bonuses
• 4% Safe Harbor 401(k) matching
• Financial planning resources
• $10k bonus for home purchase in Cedar Park, Texas

Job Openings

From launch technicians to propulsion engineers, Firefly has open roles across the company. We’re looking for passionate, bright innovators to join our team and help make space an achievable dream for everyone.

Back to Job Openings Mechanical Engineering Lead - Avionics Apply Share

ABOUT

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

Firefly Avionics Mechanical Engineers leverage their creative design and deep industry experience to develop electronics enclosures, mechanical components, integration hardware, tooling, and test fixtures for launch vehicles. As the lead, you will be expected to own complex avionics subsystems, lead design architectures, and mentor junior engineers. Qualified candidates will be responsible for the full product lifecycle—including advanced design, rigorous analysis, hands-on build/integration, and qualification testing. You will be a key technical voice within the avionics team and will collaborate heavily with multidisciplinary teams across the company to ensure mission success.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead design and architecture of ruggedized electronics packaging and structural components for PCB assemblies used in launch vehicle and spacecraft applications.
• Design and optimize complex electro-mechanical assemblies for extreme thermal and dynamic environments, EMI/EMC compatibility, and radiation resistance.
• Perform and review advanced thermal analyses (steady-state, transient, and thermal cycling) of electronics in space environments.
• Perform and review modal, random vibration, and shock analyses of electronic assemblies to ensure structural integrity during launch.
• Oversee the design of high-reliability test fixturing and ground support equipment (GSE) for launch vehicle and spacecraft electronics.
• Define, execute, and lead vibration, shock, and thermal vacuum (TVAC) environmental test campaigns for product qualification and acceptance.
• Drive the creation of CAD models, engineering drawings, and technical documentation; lead formal design reviews (PDR, CDR) and present to leadership.
• Partner closely with the PCB design team to establish mounting strategies, keep-outs, tolerance stack-ups, connector placement, and advanced thermal management solutions.
• Mentor and guide junior and mid-level engineers, establishing design best practices and reviewing their technical work.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required