Back to Jobs

Job Description

Overview

The Vehicle Structures & Mechanisms Engineer Intern role focuses on root cause analysis, engineering design, and manufacturing for aerospace applications, providing hands-on hardware ownership and involvement in the development of mechanisms and structures.

Responsibilities

  • Support the design, analysis, and testing of electromechanical actuators (EMAs) and pneumatic actuator systems.
  • Assist in creating CAD models, drawings, and documentation for actuator components and subassemblies.
  • Perform preliminary hand calculations and simulation support for actuator performance, loads, and kinematics.
  • Participate in hardware build and test activities, including setup, data collection, and post-test analysis.
  • Contribute to troubleshooting and root cause analysis for actuator performance or integration issues.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to deliver reliable mechanism solutions.
  • Design and develop piece parts, assemblies, and systems from early conceptualization to full initial release.
  • Integrate design for manufacturing choices in coordination with the manufacturing engineering team.
  • Perform packaging assessment of systems, resolve interferences, and validate hardware stacks.
  • Support BOM and configuration management of various systems across multiple vehicles.
  • Create and release drawings as part of system release sprints post-CDR.

Requirements

  • Current undergraduate or graduate student pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
  • Hands-on experience with mechanical design, prototyping, or analysis of structural or mechanism components.
  • Familiarity with CAD tools (NX, SolidWorks, or similar) and exposure to FEA or engineering coding languages like Python or MATLAB.
  • Strong interest in aerospace hardware such as actuators, linkages, latches, or deployable structures.
  • Collaborative team member who thrives in fast-paced, multidisciplinary environments and is eager to learn.
  • Experience working on an engineering team/project designing and building hardware.
  • 1-2 years established CAD experience (SolidWorks, NX, CATIA, Fusion 360, etc.).
  • Demonstrates fundamental engineering principles and integrating them into design decisions.
  • Able to work in large assemblies and navigate/manage large BOM's.
  • Excitement to work on rockets and be onsite with real-world hardware.
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Los Angeles, CA

Pay in context

At roughly $38/hr, this posting comes in about 12% below the $43/hr median for welding jobs in Los Angeles, CA, where the middle half runs $34–$58/hr across 62 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 39% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. That gap is worth raising directly — in a market this size there is normally room to negotiate toward the median, particularly if you already hold the certifications the posting asks for.

The local market in Los Angeles, CA

We're tracking 89 other active welding openings in Los Angeles, CA right now, from 59 different employers. 35 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 600 other active welding openings from 270 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Los Angeles, or widen the search to California.

The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (37), Vast (18), and Relativity Space (17). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within California, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Gardena at $73/hr, Redondo Beach at $72/hr, and Pasadena at $61/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Similar openings near Los Angeles, CA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Vehicle Structures & Mechanisms Engineer Intern figures were last recalculated when this page was built.