Mechanical Engineer
How this pay compares
This posting states $90k–$200k a year. Open mechanical engineer jobs in California post a median of $158k a year, the middle half $130k–$180k, across 266 jobs that state their pay, so this one is within the middle half of what they post.
Mechanical engineers in California: pay by town and employer
About the job
At Reflect, you will be expected to move fast, have a lot of ownership and, most importantly, be able to effect change.
If this excites you, we are interested in hearing about your best work and accomplishments across any domain and from any points in your life. ## About the Role As a Mechanical Engineer, you will be responsible for quickly designing, prototyping, and flight validating spacecraft subcomponents and integrating mechanical systems on tight deadlines.
Your highest priority is delivering functional hardware that strikes a balance between simplicity, scrappiness, analytical rigor and ingenuity. ## Responsibilities - Deliver flight-ready critical spacecraft components - Take hardware and mechanisms from conceptual design through qualification to on-orbit operations - Correlate analysis of your components to ensure reliability in the space environment ## Ideal Qualifications - You bring roughly 4–6 years of mechanical design experience, ideally on flight hardware or similar high-reliability mechanical systems. - You have owned spacecraft components from clean-sheet to spaceflight - Extensive CAD experience - You can teach a class on the design of bolted joints - You know what tolerances the machine shop can hit without needing to ask them - You have strong experience collaboratively designing complex interdependent systems Even if you don’t meet 100% of the above qualifications, we are likely still interested in hearing from you.
Hiring exceptional individuals is our #1 priority, and we believe that exceptional people often have highly unusual backgrounds.
We are also interested in carving out unique roles for unconventional people that we are excited about working with. ## Benefits Reflect Orbital’s success will hinge on our team, which is why our compensation and benefits plan is designed to reward our employees and support their families as generously as we’re able. - Broad choice of medical/dental/vision coverage, Reflect covers 100% of each base-policy - Access to HSA, FSA, and 401K - Unlimited paid time off - Healthy lunches provided daily ## Equal Opportunity Reflect Orbital is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Reflect Orbital is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status. ## More about Reflect Orbital Learn more about our team here.
From Reflect Orbital's job posting, checked 7 Nov 2026. The employer's own page is the final word on requirements and availability.
Selected agencies hiring now
Moseley Technical ServicesEngineering and technical staffing agency
Engineering and technical staffing firm in Huntsville, Alabama, placing engineers and A&P, sheet metal, CNC and quality technicians.
Places: Propulsion, Mechanical, Avionics, RF & Payloads
Contract Professionals Inc (CPI)Engineering and technical staffing agency
Aerospace and defense staffing firm in Waterford, Michigan, placing engineers, maintenance technicians, mechanics, welders and CNC machinists.
Places: Propulsion, Mechanical, Avionics, RF & Payloads
These agencies and apps pay SpaceJobs.Now a referral fee when someone we introduce is placed or signs up. It costs you nothing and never changes your pay. Employers' own jobs below keep their own order.
Sponsored jobs from job networks, which pay SpaceJobs.Now when you click one.
Free tools for this application: check your resume against this job, answer the application's questions or see every free tool.
New mechanical, structures and thermal engineering jobs in space in California, by email
One email a week with the newest ones, straight from the employers' own careers sites, with the pay each posting states. Free, stop anytime.
About Reflect Orbital
Satellites with mirrors that redirect sunlight to places on Earth.
Pay on its listings: 100% of its open jobs state an hourly rate
How it pays: Paid as an employee on Reflect Orbital's own payroll (salaried or hourly, as each posting states).
More open jobs at Reflect Orbital
- IT Support Specialist Intern$27–$31/hr
- Director, Government Partnerships$160,000–$200,000/yr
- Marketing Director$140,000–$190,000/yr
- Mission Operations Engineering Intern$27–$31/hr
- Ground Software Engineering Intern$27–$31/hr
- Embedded Firmware Engineering Intern$27–$31/hr
More mechanical, structures and thermal engineering jobs in space
- Loads & Dynamics Engineer (Starshield)$100,000–$160,000/yr
- Spacecraft Dynamics Engineer$136,000–$220,000/yr
- Senior Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer$150,000–$200,000/yr
- Senior Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer - Composites and Structures$175,000–$215,000/yr
- Vehicle Structures Engineer I (Heat Shield)$90,000–$136,000/yr
- Strength Analyst 3$99,604–$166,007/yr
A mechanical, structures or thermal engineer?
One profile for every employer here. Space companies and their recruiters ask us for people with a specific degree, clearance, specialty or location: add yours once, and when a job fits, we introduce you, only with your yes. Free.
Reflect Orbital openings, sent to you weekly
Each week we send the newest postings from Reflect Orbital's own careers site, along with similar openings at other space employers. It costs nothing and you can stop anytime.