{"id":211780,"url":"https://alion.io/job/stokespace-mechanical-design-manager-nova-stage-1-aft","title":"Mechanical Design Manager - Nova Stage 1 Aft","company":{"id":10918,"name":"Stoke Space","domain":"stokespace.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/stokespace","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":91,"open_postings":52,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.173,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":139,"computed_at":"2026-10-30T05:48:23Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":["Kent, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":129150,"max":193620,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":193620},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"ANSYS","optional":false},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-13T18:52:39Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-19","last_verified_at":"2026-10-30T05:20:40Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":77,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":[],"days_open":76},"description":"At Stoke, we believe a thriving space economy will enable a vibrant, sustainable, and equitable future here on Earth. That is why we’re building Nova, our fully and rapidly reusable launch vehicle. Designed for daily flight, Nova tackles the core challenges of space transportation by reducing cost, increasing availability, and improving reliability. By radically lowering launch costs and increasing flight cadence, we’re helping create a truly scalable space industry.\nOur team is mission-driven, collaborative, and empowered to take ownership of their work. If you want to work alongside some of the most dedicated and talented people on Earth, we’d love to have you join us.\nDescription\nIn the role of Mechanical Design Manager for Stage 1 Aft End, you will lead a team of engineers through the design, development, integration, and test of critical structural and mechanical systems. You will provide technical leadership for primary structure, and secondary structure design/analysis, while also owning the build and integration of aft end fluids and avionics systems. These systems include cryogenic propellant management, high pressure gas systems, thrust vector control, etc. for a high performance and fully reusable vehicle.\nThis role requires a structural/mechanical mindset with the ability to design and build complex mechanical and fluid systems. Your team will be composed of Responsible Engineers for significant sub-systems on our vehicles and requires owning hardware projects from requirements definition, through development, design, analysis, build, test, integration onto the vehicle, and flight. We are a small and motivated team, and you will need to work across disciplines with engineers and technicians to get the job done. You will have the opportunity to help build and test your own hardware so be ready to pick up a wrench and stand side by side with our fabrication team. This role will also provide mentorship to our younger team members and interns.\nResponsibilities\nOwn the technical roadmap for aft end structural and mechanical design on current and future vehicles\nLead the execution of structures and mechanical designs from concept through release, build, testing, and vehicle-level operations\nProvide technical leadership for primary structure, and secondary structure design and analysis\nDefine and optimize structural load paths for the aft end of the vehicle\nOversee integration of fluids systems hardware with primary vehicle structures\nCreate lasting technical standards and guides for space vehicle structural and mechanical design\nHire, grow, and mentor a team of mechanical and structures design engineers\nProvide technical coaching in areas such as structures, strength of materials, design for manufacturing, and space vehicle design and qualification\nDetermine appropriate level of work for problems (from hand calcs to multi-physics finite element solutions) and guide team execution accordingly\nMaintain a culture of integrity, reliability, and fast iteration\nQualifications\n5+ years of experience in aerospace structures and mechanical design, including design, build, and test of space vehicle systems\n2+ years of experience leading a team of engineers\nDesigned, built and tested structures that have flown\nBachelor's degree in mechanical, aerospace engineering, or similar\nExceptional command of fundamentals in structural design, including statics, dynamics, strength of materials, and design for manufacturing\nDemonstrated proficiency with CAD software (NX preferred) and analysis software (ANSYS preferred), with multiple examples of both\nExperience with technical mentoring and developing junior engineers\nProject management experience including developing resource-loaded schedules\nHands-on experience performing fabrication and assembly of components\nProficiency in relevant software tools (NX, ANSYS, Python, Matlab, Excel, or equivalent)\nFamiliarity with launch vehicle design (cryogenic propellant familiarity preferred)\nExcellent written and verbal communication\nWilling to relocate to Seattle, WA\nBenefits\nEquity - We know that our employees are the reason we succeed. To give everyone a stake in our future, we are pleased to offer equity in the form of stock options to all regular, full-time employees. \nComprehensive benefits program including subsidized medical, dental, and vision insurance \nCompany-paid life and disability insurance \n401(k) plan with employer match \n4 weeks’ Paid Time Off \nHolidays - 10 days (including an end-of-year closure) \nPaid Family/Parental Leave \nOn-site gym or monthly wellness stipend (depending on location) \nDog friendly offices! \nCompensation\nTarget Levels:\nLevel 3 Range: $129,150 - $193,620\nLevel 4 Range: $151,305 - $252,105\nOur job posts are intentionally written to attract a wide variety of experience levels, and we make decisions about the right fit on a per-candidate basis. \nYour actual level and base salary will be decided based on your specific experience and skill level.\nITAR Requirements\nTo conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S. (i.e., current Green Card holder), or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).\nEqual Opportunity \nThe Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including with respect to disability and veteran status. It is committed to compliance with all equal opportunity laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Title VII. It does not discriminate on the basis of nationality, race, citizenship, immigration status, or any other protected class when it comes to employment practices, including hiring. \nEmployment at the Company is contingent upon satisfactory completion of reference and background checks, and on your ability to prove your identity and authorization to work in the U.S. for the Company. Employees must comply with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services employment verification requirements, and, therefore, they must complete an Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 at the start of employment and re-verify authorization to work periodically.\nSeparate from this I-9 process, as noted above, this position entails access to certain technology and technical data that is restricted under U.S. export control laws and regulations. Employment or continued employment may be conditioned on your legal authorization to work with or have access to export control materials as necessary to perform your job.\nCandidate Rights & Accommodations\nIf you require a reasonable accommodation to complete the application or participate in the interview process, please contact . Requests will be handled in accordance with applicable laws. Please do not include medical or other confidential information in your initial request.\nFor more information about your rights, please refer to the \"Know Your Rights\" notice here. \nE-Verify\nStoke Space uses E-Verify to confirm the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires. \nFor more information on the right to work, please refer to the poster here.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7185,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":1,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Parental leave","Pet friendly","Stock options","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Launch Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-05T08:31:18Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":61,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.85,"p_room":0.72,"age_days":77,"expected_fill_days":139,"reasons":["conf:0","win:mid","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-30T05:48:23Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":193620,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/stokespace-mechanical-design-manager-nova-stage-1-aft","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/stokespace-mechanical-design-manager-nova-stage-1-aft.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-30T08:10:00Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":11466,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-31T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":10918},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=10918"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fstokespace-mechanical-design-manager-nova-stage-1-aft"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fstokespace-mechanical-design-manager-nova-stage-1-aft"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fstokespace-mechanical-design-manager-nova-stage-1-aft"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/stokespace-mechanical-design-manager-nova-stage-1-aft\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fstokespace-mechanical-design-manager-nova-stage-1-aft"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":211780}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"stokespace.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":211780},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. Docs: https://alion.io/developers"}}