Sr. Engineer, Structural Design

$105,700 - $161,200/Yr

Virgin Galactic - Tustin, CA

Full-time - Senior

Tustin, CA

Air Transportation

About the position

As a Senior Engineer in Structural Design at Virgin Galactic, you will play a pivotal role in the development of innovative designs for aircraft and spacecraft components and systems. Your responsibilities will encompass the creation and release of detailed parts, assemblies, installations, and drawings, ensuring that all designs meet industry and company standards. You will be tasked with designing components or portions of functional systems to enhance product development and streamline manufacturing operations. This includes building intricate 3D models of design details and complex assemblies, as well as evaluating completed work for clarity, accuracy, and compliance with established tolerances and materials. In this role, you will identify design errors and deficiencies, recommending necessary revisions to improve design layouts. You will also review designs for fit, function, manufacturability, and cost-effectiveness, modifying them based on weight and manufacturing targets. Collaboration with various engineering stakeholders will be essential throughout the design, production, integration, testing, delivery, and operational phases of air and space vehicles. You will review manufacturing plans and procedures to ensure quality and compliance with design requirements, supporting production and operations teams to ensure vehicle readiness for flight. Your contributions will extend to the continuous improvement of design practices and technologies, as you prepare and author various manuals and templates, including design standards and best practices. You will be responsible for identifying process deficiencies and developing solutions to enhance efficiency. As a mentor to junior engineers, you will facilitate knowledge transfer and training, providing design engineering support by addressing inquiries from internal and external customers. Your ability to prepare clear and concise reports that analyze and summarize information will be crucial in this role, as will your strong interpersonal skills and effective communication with peers and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Develop preliminary, conceptual, and detailed designs of aircraft/spacecraft components and systems.
• Create and release detailed parts, assemblies, installations, and drawings.
• Design components or portions of a functional system to develop or improve products and facilitate manufacturing operations.
• Build 3D models of design details and complex assemblies.
• Evaluate completed work for clarity, conformity to industry and company standards, tolerances, materials, accuracy of calculations and dimensions.
• Identify design errors, omissions, and other deficiencies, and recommend revisions and/or improvements in design layout to responsible engineers or designers.
• Review designs for fit, function, manufacturability, economy of fabrication.
• Modify designs based on cost, weight and manufacturing targets and capabilities.
• Collaborate with various engineering stakeholders during the design, production, integration, test, delivery, and operation of air/space vehicles.
• Review manufacturing plans/procedures, assembly and installation processes to ensure quality, and compliance with design requirements.
• Support production and operations teams to ensure vehicle readiness for flight, including detailed involvement in fabrication, implementation, and MRB activities.
• Participate in the continuous improvement of design practices, procedures, and technologies.
• Prepare and author various manuals/templates such as design standard and best practices, procedures, and processes.
• Identify process deficiencies and develop solutions to improve those deficiencies.
• Develop technical solutions to complex problems that require regular ingenuity and creativity.
• Mentor junior level engineers and participate in knowledge transfer and training of teammates.
• Provide design engineering support by answering questions and requests from internal or external customers.
• Prepare clear and concise reports that collect, analyze, and summarize information.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution, with a concentration in Aeronautical, Astronautical, Aerospace, or Mechanical Engineering.
• 10+ years of experience in the aerospace industry with a strong design emphasis.
• In-depth knowledge of composite aircraft structural design.
• Prior work experience designing aircraft/spacecraft primary, secondary, and bonded composite structures.
• Prior work experience designing for vehicle systems integration accommodation.
• Expert knowledge in using CAD software and composite workbenches to design aircraft/spacecraft structures and components, preferably CATIA V5 and/or CATIA 3DX.
• Experience with GD&T per ASME Y14.5, functional tolerancing, drawing creation, assembly tolerance stack-up analysis.
• Perform MRB tasks associated with dispositioning non-conformant metallic and composite components resulting from manufacturing, assembly, or field operations.
• Experience with the design of flight vehicles or vehicle systems to a set of requirements or standards such as CFR 14, Part 400, Part 23 and 25, military or NASA.
• Experience with Product Lifecycle Management tools (PLM software), requirements management tools, and configuration management.
• Demonstrated proficiency in MS Office with good technical writing skills and the ability to communicate and present technical material to various stakeholders.
• Experience in authoring or providing input for the authoring of design standards and manuals.
• Experience managing and leading small to medium sized teams of varying skillsets.
• A high degree of autonomy, creativity, and an ability to work quickly and prioritize work in a fast-paced environment as part of a team or individually.
• Strong time management and organizational skills.
• Experience mentoring junior level engineers.

Benefits

• Full range of medical benefits
• Financial benefits
• Other benefits dependent on the position offered