Sr. Mechanical Engineer, RF Payloads - TeraWave

Job description

Application close date: Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the requisition is closed. At Blue Origin, we envision millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. We’re working to develop reusable, safe, and low-cost space vehicles and systems within a culture of safety, collaboration, and inclusion. Join our team of problem solvers as we add new chapters to the history of spaceflight! Blue Origin is pioneering the future of space-based communications with TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This multi-orbit constellation will consist of optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO), providing enterprise-grade connectivity for critical operations worldwide. We are seeking a Mechanical Engineer to own the mechanical design and packaging of that payload. This is a mechanical role where thermal performance is a primary design driver rather than a downstream check. Active phased arrays concentrate significant power into a small area, in vacuum, inside a tightly packaged satellite — so how the hardware is mounted, clamped, and coupled to structure determines how much capacity the array can deliver and how long it lasts. The mechanical and thermal problems here are genuinely coupled: improving a heat path is usually also a structural question, and often a manufacturing one. You will work these problems as the mechanical technical point of contact for RF payload hardware, holding the mechanical baseline and negotiating it across RF, ASIC, electrical, thermal, and spacecraft structures. This is a role with real technical authority over a defined scope, not a coordination seat. Scale changes the answers. We are building a constellation, not a handful of exquisite payloads, so fastener count, panel construction, thermal interface application, and assembly sequence are evaluated against cost and cycle time as seriously as against structural margin. Manufacturability is treated as part of design, not a separate downstream activity — if you have been frustrated by a design that closed analytically but could not be built at rate, this is the role where that instinct is the job. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to: • Own the mechanical design and packaging of phased array antenna panels and RF payload assemblies, from architecture through detailed design, release, and production support. • Drive thermal management strategy for high-power-density RF electronics — conduction paths, thermal interface materials, heat spreading, heat pipe integration, thermal energy storage, and radiator coupling — in close partnership with thermal analysis. • Design PCBA mounting and retention approaches that simultaneously satisfy thermal preload, flatness, and structural strain requirements. • Lead architecture and trade studies defining packaging approaches for RF payload hardware, and carry them to a documented, defensible recommendation. • Perform and interpret structural and thermal analysis, including tolerance stack-ups, to validate designs; partner with specialty analysis groups on cross-cutting modeling. • Own mechanical interface definition for RF payload units — envelope, mass, center of gravity, mounting and fastener interfaces — and drive it to maturity with responsible subsystem engineers. • Support structural and thermal test campaigns, including test article definition, instrumentation interfaces, and correlating models to measured data. • Serve as the mechanical technical point of contact for RF payload hardware, coordinating with RF, ASIC, electrical, thermal, spacecraft structures, and integration teams. • Provide technical direction to suppliers and manufacturing partners on producibility, panel fabrication, and assembly processes. • Present technical content and recommendations at program design reviews and product baseline reviews. • Mentor engineers on RF payload packaging and thermal-mechanical design practice, and help build that capability across the mechanical discipline group. • Contribute to the mechanical design standards and review practices the program will run on — much of this is still being established. Minimum Qualifications: • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field. • 8+ years of experience in mechanical design and packaging of complex electronic hardware. • Proficiency with 3D CAD tools for detailed part and large-assembly modeling. • Experience performing structural and thermal analysis using analytical methods or finite element tools. • Demonstrated experience with thermal management of high-power-density electronics, including conduction path design, heat sinking, and thermal interface material selection and application. • Experience applying GD&T and engineering drawing standards, including ASME Y14.5. • Experience with PLM and configuration management systems such as Windchill or Teamcenter. • Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present and defend technical positions to cross-functional stakeholders. • Ability to operate effectively with requirements still in flux, and the judgment to make design decisions that hold up as they firm. Preferred Qualifications: • Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field. • Phased array mechanical integration, including panel-level packaging, antenna-in-package integration, beamforming and front-end module thermal design, and tile or panel array construction. • Transient and cycled thermal design, including thermal mass sizing, thermal energy storage integration, and thermal fatigue life assessment. • Heat pipe integration into structural hardware, and experience with lightweight structural panel design incorporating embedded thermal hardware. • Experience packaging electronics for space environments, including thermal vacuum, vibration, shock, radiation,