Senior Structural Analyst

company

Sophia Space is a venture-backed deep technology company building high-performance, energy-efficient computing systems designed to operate in orbit. Our work sits at the intersection of aerospace systems, advanced computing, artificial intelligence, and applied physics, enabling a new generation of distributed edge computing capabilities in space.

Having successfully completed our Seed financing, Sophia is focused on scaling its team, products, and capabilities as we prepare for the next stage of growth. We are building a world-class engineering organization that combines expertise from aerospace, cloud computing, robotics, and AI to solve some of the most challenging problems in space infrastructure. As both a product company and an engineering-driven organization, we actively leverage modern AI tools throughout our development process to accelerate learning, improve productivity, and help deliver innovative, environmentally responsible computing platforms for the future.

role

Job Description

Sophia Space builds computers that run in orbit. Our hardware has to survive the launch that puts it there. A rideshare launch subjects a payload to broadband random vibration, a separation shock in the thousands of g, and quasi-static loads above ten g. Every gram of structure we add to survive that is a gram we cannot spend on compute. Structural analysis is where that trade gets decided.

We are looking for a Senior Structural Analyst to own structural analysis across our first flight demonstration and the missions that follow. You own coupled loads analysis (CLA, the joint analysis with the launch provider that sets the loads the spacecraft must survive), dynamics test predictions and model correlation, piece-part stress analysis, and vibration and shock analysis of avionics boxes and circuit boards. You are the deep structural-analysis voice on the team. You make the numbers say what they say, you defend them, and you turn them into design and test decisions.

Our TILE is a roughly one-meter-square unit that carries compute, power, storage, and passive thermal control in one lightweight assembly. It has to stay stiff enough to keep clear of launch vehicle and bus structural modes, light enough to be worth flying, and survive an acoustic environment that attacks thin panels, circuit boards, and connectors. Near-term you will carry the first flight demonstration from finite element model through CLA delivery, environmental test, and flight. After that you will help set the structural architecture for larger Modules built from many TILEs.

Sophia Space works at demo-mission pace. We value analysts who reach first for hand calculations, classical solutions, and engineering judgment, and who build the detailed finite element model only when the decision needs it. We treat every analysis as a budget decision: schedule cost against risk reduction against confidence gained. You will defend your methodology in front of the launch provider and customer reviewers, and you will work with the Thermal, Mechanical, and Avionics engineers as peers. You will partner closely with the Senior Thermal Engineer on thermal-structural coupling, so comfort with thermal stress and distortion analysis is part of the role. Expect 1 to 3 weeks of travel per year to launch provider CLA reviews and environmental test facilities. Candidates with 8 or more years of experience and a record as CLA lead may be brought in at the Staff level.

Sophia Space works at the leading edge of AI. We use AI tools and agents as everyday leverage across engineering and operations, and we expect everyone to fold that leverage into how they work.

Location & Eligibility

This position is primarily in-person in Pasadena, California, with occasional hybrid flexibility based on business needs.

This position may require access to technology subject to U.S. export-control laws. To comply with applicable ITAR and EAR regulations, applicants may need to qualify as a U.S. Person, as defined under those regulations. U.S. Persons generally include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (green-card holders), and certain protected individuals as defined by applicable law.

Primary Responsibilities

Coupled Loads Analysis — Primary

● Own CLA for each mission: spacecraft finite element model build and reduction (Craig-Bampton, Guyan, or component mode synthesis), launch vehicle integration, transient response, and load-cycle delivery to the launch provider.

● Coordinate CLA cycles with the launch provider: model exchange, review participation, anomaly resolution, and re-run of CLA on configuration changes.

Dynamics Testing

● Lead pre-test predictions for modal, sine, random vibration, shock, and acoustic tests, and the post-test correlation: MAC and orthogonality checks, model updating, and the design-load re-run with the correlated model.

● Specify instrumentation with the Integration & Test team, and coordinate fixture stiffness and boundary conditions with the test facility.

Piece-Part Detailed Analysis

● Perform static, modal, random vibration, sine, and shock analyses on components: brackets, fittings, mounts, panels, deployables and mechanisms, and primary and secondary structure.

● Establish and defend margins for yield, ultimate, buckling, fatigue, and fracture per NASA-STD-5001, NASA-STD-5019, NASA-STD-5020, MIL-HDBK-5, and MMPDS.

Avionics Box and PCB-Level Analysis

● Own avionics chassis dynamics: modal, mounting, isolation, and random vibration and shock response on enclosed electronics.

● Perform printed circuit board analysis: board modal frequencies, component natural frequencies, and solder-joint and lead-wire fatigue. Apply Steinberg-class methods and JEDEC JESD22-B103 and B104, and correlate against board-level vibration test.

● Partner with the Avionics Lead and the Manufacturing Engineer on layout, placement, staking, and mounting decisions that drive vibration and shock margin.

Cross-Discipline Work

● Lead thermal-structural coupling with the Senior Thermal Engineer: thermal-induced loads, distortion driven by thermal expansion mismatch, and gradient effects on bolted-joint preload.

● Support payload structural accommodation and deployment kinematics with the relevant leads.

Toolchain and Mentorship

● Own Sophia Space's structural analysis toolchain (NASTRAN, FEMAP, NX Simcenter and NX Nastran) and the methods documentation, to the model-validation expectations of NASA-STD-7009.

● Mentor junior analysts as the team grows.

Required Skills

● B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Engineering Mechanics. An M.S. or Ph.D. is preferred and may shift placement toward the Staff level.

● Typically 5–8 years of post-degree spacecraft structural analysis experience. Candidates with 8–12 or more years and a documented record as CLA lead may be brought in at the Staff level.

● At least one program carried from finite element model development through CLA delivery, dynamics test correlation, and flight.

● Documented CLA contribution with a launch service provider.

● Extensive NASTRAN experience: SOL 101, 103, 105, 108, 109, 111, and 112; bulk data fluency (CBAR/CBEAM, CQUAD/CTRIA, CHEXA/CTETRA, CBUSH, RBE2/RBE3, MPCs); superelement and component mode synthesis reduction for CLA handoff.

● FEMAP and Siemens NX Simcenter or NX Nastran: pre- and post-processing, CAD-to-FEM integration, and traceability from CAD to the finite element model.

● Hands-on dynamics testing: pre-test predictions, modal survey, sine, random, and shock testing, and post-test correlation including model updating.

● Piece-part detailed-design analysis with a stated margin policy and the applicable standards.

● Avionics box-level dynamics and PCB-level analysis: chassis modal, mounting and isolation, board modal, component natural frequencies, and solder-joint and lead-wire fatigue. Working knowledge of Steinberg methods and JEDEC JESD22-B103 and B104, with experience correlating PCB-level analysis to board-level vibration test.

● Comfortable partnering with the Senior Thermal Engineer on thermal-structural coupling: orbital thermal environments, thermal expansion mismatch, gradient distortion, and joint preload at temperature. Able to read exports from thermal tools (Thermal Desktop, Sinda/Fluint, or equivalent) well enough to interpret thermal results and partner on coupled trades.

● Strong command of statics, dynamics, strength of materials, vibration, contact mechanics, fatigue, and fracture. A first-principles disposition: hand calculations, classical solutions, and dimensional analysis, with the judgment to know when a full finite element run is warranted and when it is not.

● Clear technical writing, and the ability to defend methodology in front of launch provider and customer reviewers.

● Comfortable using AI tools in day-to-day work. You are interested in adopting AI assistants and agents to work faster and better, and you have sound judgment about where they help and where they fall short.

Desired Skills

Analysis Depth

● Lead-of-analysis history on a flown spacecraft program.

● Non-linear analysis (NASTRAN SOL 400 or NX Advanced Simulation), explicit dynamics (LS-DYNA or Abaqus Explicit), multibody dynamics (Adams or RecurDyn) for deployment kinematics, or acoustic and vibroacoustic analysis (Wave6, VA One, or NASTRAN SEA).

● Composites analysis.

Mission Experience

● Small-sat, ESPA-class, CubeSat, or commercial demonstration mission experience, including launch campaign and on-orbit anomaly support.

Engineering Tools

● Python or MATLAB scripting for post-processing and CLA case automation, with exposure to pyNastran, NX Open, or the FEMAP API.

● Demonstrated experience applying AI tools and agents, such as LLM assistants like Claude, to structural analysis work — for load case automation, analysis documentation, data reduction, or decision support.