Mechanical Engineer

At Dark, we passionately believe that space represents not only a cornerstone of the modern world but also a catalyst for shaping our future. Our mission is clear: pioneering spacecraft and mission designs for the protection of vital orbits and assets.

That is why we are gathering a team of bright minds to tackle crucial challenges through advanced engineering. Our focus? Velocity. We are kicking in technologies that will enable faster-than-ever orbital missions, ushering in a new era defined by unprecedented agility and boundless opportunity.

Within the mechanical engineering team, you will work as a structural analyst on the development of a cutting-edge orbital demonstrator. You will directly collaborate with the mechanical architect, the other structural engineers and the design engineers to conduct trade-off studies, contribute to hardware development and inform test activities.

Learn more about our mission: mission manifesto.

**First Missions**:

- Getting up to speed with the current spacecraft architecture and the past analysis activities
- Work with the team on the first design loop of the demonstrator, all the way to development testing: you will inform early architectural trade-offs, validate definitions, prepare testing requirements and analyse the results

**Responsibilities**:

- Contributing to the definition of internal structural analysis standards, processes, and tools
- Building analytical, numerical, and FEA models in support of design activities
- Performing preliminary and detailed structural analyses as required: static, thermo-structural, modal, vibroacoustic, and shock analysis
- Performing parametric studies to support early architectural trade-offs as well as component optimization
- Interfacing with the mechanical designers, the test team, and the propulsion team to conduct structural tests and iterate solutions
- Generating structural test plans, supervising test activities, and analysing test results
- Documenting your work in a clear manner to inform future tests and analyses

**Requirements**:

- 7+ years of experience in a similar position
- Ideal background from the Defense / Aerospace industry
- Industrial experience in structural analysis through analytical and numerical methods applied to real-world problems
- Proficient user of FEA packages (ideally Ansys Workbench)
- Applied knowledge of quasi-static and dynamic (vibroacoustic, shocks) analyses
- High-level knowledge of various failure modes (buckling, fatigue, creep, modal analysis, etc.)
- Being able to work in a highly iterative environment during early design phases
- Applied knowledge of Coupled Loads Analysis and super-elements is a plus
- Hands-on experience with testing (quasi-static, sine & random vibration, shock, and acoustic) is a plus: numerical predictions, test specifications according to relevant international standards, guiding instrumentation location, data processing, and test-analysis correlations.
- As we have an international team, knowledge of technical English is required. Fluency in French is a plus

**Culture**:
We recognise that extraordinary work ethics turn mere achievements into triumphs. Hence, we hold each team member accountable for enhancing collaborative performance within Dark by embodying the following skill set:

- Methodology - Your ability to clearly define and articulate the steps required to achieve a desired outcome
- Relevancy - Your capacity to discern and select the most appropriate course of action based on the prevailing context and circumstances
- Results - Consistently obtaining and updating the necessary resources and information to drive towards the intended outcome effectively

Learn more about our culture: culture manifesto.

**Benefits**
- Join - our core team, poised to expand into a company with hundreds
- Engage - in a deeply technical project with high level systems trade-off and long term industrial vision
- Learn - every day in an environment driven by continuous improvement
- Enjoy - a team rewarding autonomy and uphold high standard at work

Salary package ranging from 62 K€ to 80 K€ gross, additional performance bonuses and project-based bonuses.