The future of aerospace and defense starts here.
Ursa Major was founded to revolutionize how America and its allies access and apply high-performance propulsion, from hypersonics to solid rocket motors, satellite maneuvering and launch. We design and deliver propulsion and defense systems that solve the most urgent and critical national security demands.
Ursa Major’s solid rocket motor team is hiring multiple Staff Design Engineers to own the design, development, and qualification of solid rocket motor nozzles and associated insulation systems. This is a senior, highly technical role with end-to-end responsibility: from clean-sheet concept through qualification and scalable production.
You will be a technical owner for SRM design at Ursa Major, defining nozzle architectures and interfaces, leading shell and insulator design, and driving test campaigns. You’ll play a key role in establishing the design methods, standards, and processes that enable scalable, high-rate production of solid rocket motors.
This isn’t purely a desk job. You’ll be expected to be on the build floor working with technicians, integrating hardware, and resolving build issues in real time. Our engineers work across a variety of programs and roles, so you’ll have the opportunity to contribute beyond your title and take on new challenges as they arise.
What You’ll Do
- Own clean-sheet design of solid rocket motor nozzles, including shells, insulators, and interfaces.
- Translate customer requirements and mission needs into robust, manufacturable nozzle designs that meet performance, reliability, cost, and schedule targets.
- Lead design trades across materials, manufacturing processes, and nozzle architectures.
- Develop and execute test campaigns (coupon through full-scale testing) to derisk new concepts and mature them into qualified products.
- Review test data and post-test hardware to verify performance against predictions, identify anomalies, and drive design or process changes when needed.
- Provide hands-on support for hardware assembly and test, including troubleshooting manufacturing, integration, and performance issues.
- Lead cross-functional collaboration with analysis, manufacturing, test, systems, and supply chain teams to ensure nozzle designs meet all stakeholder needs.
- Work with supply chain and procurement to ensure nozzle designs are compatible with high‑rate, automated production and available materials/processes; and adjust designs when significant supply‑chain or obsolescence risks are identified.
- Establish and maintain aggressive but realistic development schedules, identifying technical and programmatic risks early and implementing mitigation plans.
- Generate, review, and approve CAD models and engineering drawings in accordance with internal standards and ASME Y14.5‑2009.
- Maintain rigorous technical documentation: requirements, design reviews, test plans and reports, verification/validation evidence, and customer deliverables.
- Serve as a technical mentor for less-senior engineers, providing guidance on nozzle/motor design, analysis, manufacturing, and performance.
- Codify best practices by authoring design standards, guidelines, checklists, and processes to drive consistency and quality across the SRM portfolio.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related field.
- Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in rocket propulsion, high-temperature structures, or closely related hardware.
- Extensive experience with erosive and nonerosive nozzle designs and associated manufacturing practices.
- Ability to execute clean-sheet nozzle designs, including first-order fluids and thermal analyses to inform geometry, materials, and insulation strategies.
- Proficiency with CAD and engineering analysis tools (e.g., structural, thermal, and fluid/CFD analysis).
- Strong engineering fundamentals, including deep knowledge of thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and structural mechanics.
- Clear, effective written and verbal communication skills for cross-functional collaboration, design reviews, customer discussions, and documentation.
- Eligibility for a U.S. DoD Secret Clearance is required and maintaining that eligibility is a condition of employment.
Desired Experience
- Master’s degree or PhD in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Experience architecting and designing electromechanical systems (e.g., actuators, gimbal mechanisms) for nozzle vectoring.
- Direct experience with vectorable nozzle technologies (e.g., splitline designs, jet tabs, flexseals).
- Hands-on involvement in rapid product development environments (prototype‑heavy, fast‑iteration programs).
- Experience designing hardware for high-rate, automated production, including DFM/DFA and process automation.
- Proficiency with Siemens NX (CAD) and Ansys (FEA/CFD) tools.
- Active DoD Secret security clearance or higher.
Colorado law requires us to tell you the base compensation range of this role, which is $143,360 - $179,200, determined by your education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities. What we can’t quantify for you are the exciting challenges, supportive team, and amazing culture we enjoy.
Classification: Full-time Exempt
Benefits Include: (Please note, Interns are not eligible for benefits)
- Unlimited PTO - Vacation, Sick, Personal, and Bereavement
- Paid Parental and Adoptive Leave
- Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
- Tax Advantage Accounts (HSA/FSA)
- Employer Paid Short and Long Term Disability, Basic Life, AD&D
- Additional Benefit Options Including Voluntary Life and Emergency Medical Transport
- EAP Program
- Retirement Savings Plan - 401k with Company Match
How To Apply:
Interested candidates are encouraged to apply by filling out the application below and clicking "Submit Application". This position will be posted for a minimum of 3 days and will remain open until filled or adjusted based on the volume of applicants.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related STEM discipline
- At least 7 years of experience in rocket propulsion design
- At least 4 years dedicated specifically to movable nozzle or thrust vector control system design
- Experience designing and analyzing at least two of flexseal or flexible bearings, trapped ball joints, or split-line nozzle architectures
- Must be a U.S. Citizen or U.S. Person, including permanent residents
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Defense Secret Security Clearance
- Active DoD Secret or Top Secret Clearance
- Experience correlating flight or test telemetry with pre-test kinematic and structural models
- Familiarity with TVC nozzle bench testing and non-destructive inspection methods for carbon-phenolic layups and elastomeric flexible bearings
- Proficiency with Creo or NX and FEA software such as ANSYS for coupled thermal-structural analysis
What the Team is Saying
Ursa Major Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time off is broad, combining unlimited PTO with two company‑wide shutdown weeks in July and at year‑end that help ensure employees disconnect.
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Healthcare Strength — Core coverage appears comprehensive, with medical, dental, and vision plus HSA/FSA, employer‑paid disability, life, AD&D, and EAP; some listings also cite optional add‑ons such as pet insurance.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental and adoptive leave is highlighted across official and third‑party materials as a notable strength.
Ursa Major Insights
What We Do
Ursa Major was founded to address a critical shortfall in the U.S. industrial base and bring a new model to aerospace and defense systems: we design and manufacture the world’s leading propulsion systems for space, hypersonic applications, and missile systems. Our products and technologies require an extraordinary team – a team that will mold tomorrow’s technologies while deploying today’s best. We are an intrinsically motivated team that has a passion for solving problems and empowering each other every day to develop our skills, knowing that there is always room for growth.
Why Work With Us
We believe that each unique team member fuels the creativity necessary to build the world’s best propulsion systems. This is realized as a deeply held commitment to celebrating individuality, hiring talent across all backgrounds and experiences, building a culture of inclusion, and constantly challenging ourselves to improve.
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Ursa Major Offices
OnSite Workspace
Most employees work on-site with some positions allowing hybrid and/or remote work.
