Dragonfly Aerospace (DFA) is looking for a Junior Mechanical Engineer to join our team. They will be based at our Stellenbosch office outside of Cape Town.

All Mechanical solutions within the organisation are to be produced following the standards set out by the Mechanical Centre of Excellence (CoE). The CoE sets out its required standards for Mechanical engineering principles, creating system tools, procedures, best practices and product/technology roadmaps, amongst others.

Mechanical solutions are produced for Space and Ground segments of spacecraft engineering, which includes development for product lifecycle flight hardware models, ground support equipment, testing tools and jigs and in general the required creating systems.

Key Responsibilities

The Mechanical Engineer will be responsible for:

  • Leading the design, development, and qualification of engineering solutions to meet the needs mandated through product owners, clients, and stakeholders such that it achieves outputs which meet validated requirements.  
  • Performing mechanical services following the required company and departmental management standards and by providing it in an efficient, proactive and synergistic manner.
  • Involvement at all stages of the mechanical development cycle, including designing, developing and improving systems and QA processes as required
  • Development of integrated spacecraft mechanical designs while working with suppliers and subsystem providers
  • Utilising mechanical modelling tools to design and build spacecraft mechanical model
  • Maintaining and managing spacecraft mechanical balance budgets
  • Support hardware developers in the selection of materials, processes and tests that comply with Mechanical design and coordinate mechanical interfaces between spacecraft subsystems
  • Support linking results and output of mechanical models to other modelling and simulation software
  • Assisting in establishing and documenting environmental/mechanical engineering and system-level design requirements (e.g. performance, environment, functionality, life, envelope, and integration).
  • Management of design that meets all physical, mechanical and environmental requirements while ensuring suitable Mechanical control for accommodating the required spacecraft operations and related components (e.g. payload, power, propulsion, communications, onboard computers, AOCS and general avionics) 
  • Supporting program milestone reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, IDR etc.) and Gate Closure
  • Supporting design non-conformances and resolution during production
  • Providing program-observed lessons learned to aid in continuous improvement
  • Investigating emerging technologies to develop concepts for future product designs
  • Development of mechanical verification plans, test procedures and test environments, executing the test procedures and documenting test results to ensure mechanical system requirements are met
  • Delivering high-quality designs on time, as part of a team 
  • Participating in estimation planning in an agile environment 
  • Performing and continuously improving the core competency of the Mechanical Team
  • Monitoring and reporting to management on plans, progress and issues
  • Technical writing and compilation of technical procedural documents
  • Developing pragmatic solutions without over-engineering 
  • Interaction and cooperation with customers over applicable to all technical aspects
  • Providing technical leadership for Mechanical Design within projects
  • Supporting and development, selection, tailoring, and deployment of mechanical design processes, tools and metrics as required
  • Producing in compliance with the company product lifecycle management (PLM) standards and processes, tailored where applicable and as approved by the project
  • Ensuring the practice and compliance to the organisation’s system engineering standards (e.g. needs solicitation, requirements analysis/writing/management, product lifecycle management, reviews, traceability, validation, verification, non-conformances, waivers and others)
  • Working closely with other engineering disciplines and project managers within an integrated, cross-functional team environment 
  • Supporting project and business development by formulating and compiling statements of work, technical solution plans, pre-feasibility and trade studies and system concept proposals
  • Supporting implementation of and compliance with engineering technical standards, policies and procedures
  • Establishing, declaring, reporting, managing, and mitigating technical risk
  • Producing and submitting deliverables for technical review and baselining 
  • Performing, as required, technical reviews according to the technical review process
  • Facilitating procurement where applicable
  • Leading environmental tests (specifically mechanical vibration) as and when required
  • Performing further roles as per agreed assignments in the Engineering RASCI (Responsibility, Accountability, Support, Consult and Informed) assignment matrix

 

Skills and Experience

  • Coordination and finite element method
  • Experience in the field of thermal vacuum testing
  • Product lifecycle management
  • Technical and peer reviews
  • Validation and verification
  • Engineering change management
  • Non-conformances, root cause analyses, waivers, deviations, etc.
  • Building a knowledge base for mechanical engineering capabilities

 

Personal Attributes

  • Honesty and decisiveness
  • Trust and integrity
  • Forward-thinking and eager to take initiative

 

Education/ Qualification Requirements

This is a junior role. A Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering is required while a Master of Engineering (M.Eng) will be an added advantage.

Location

The Mechanical Engineer will be based in DFA’s Stellenbosch office outside Cape Town. 

Interested?

If you think you’ve got what it takes to join our dynamic team, please drop us an email at [email protected] with your CV. We eagerly anticipate the prospect of welcoming you to the Dragonfly family.

About Dragonfly Aerospace

Dragonfly Aerospace is a space technology solutions provider based in Stellenbosch, South Africa. DFA offers commercial satellite solutions as well as a range of advanced engineering services, including payloads and operational solutions using space and related technologies. The highly experienced and motivated satellite engineering team develops and manufactures high-performance imagers and satellites for Earth observation constellations.