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Antares

Senior Structural Engineer - Space

Location

Los Angeles, CA

Wage

$145,000 – $185,000/yr

Employment Type

Full-time

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Posted on November 6, 2026

Job Description

Overview

Antares is on a mission to make clean energy abundant from Earth to the Asteroid Belt by developing advanced nuclear energy solutions. The Senior Structural Engineer will focus on analysis and dynamics for space nuclear systems, working collaboratively across various engineering teams to ensure the structural integrity of innovative space hardware.

Responsibilities

  • Own stress analysis and structural dynamics for space nuclear hardware.
  • Support mechanical design and perform targeted structural design work.
  • Perform first-order hand calculations and rapid analytical assessments.
  • Build, correlate, and maintain finite element models.
  • Run detailed structural analyses including static strength and thermal stress.
  • Support coupled thermal-structural analysis for space nuclear systems.
  • Define structural analysis plans and load cases.
  • Develop plans for launch loads derivation and structural verification.
  • Work with systems teams to interpret launch provider environments.
  • Specify vibration, modal, acoustic, and structural development tests.
  • Own vibration test planning and execution.
  • Support procurement and operation of in-house vibration test capability.
  • Participate in design and test readiness reviews.
  • Drive root-cause investigations for structural failures.
  • Develop reusable analysis methods and workflows.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Civil/Structural Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, or a related technical discipline.
  • 5+ years of experience in structural analysis, stress analysis, or related fields.
  • Strong fundamentals in solid mechanics, structural dynamics, and vibration.
  • Experience building and running finite element models for complex hardware.
  • Experience analyzing static loads, modal response, and thermal stress.

Additional Information

  • Ability to work long hours and weekends as necessary to support critical milestones.
  • Location: Torrance, CA in a new facility with easy access to major freeways.
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How this job compares in Los Angeles, CA

Pay in context

At roughly $79/hr, this posting sits about 62% above the $49/hr median for welding jobs in Los Angeles, CA — toward the top of a $37–$67/hr middle band drawn from 55 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 85% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. Pay that far above local median usually comes attached to something: a harder cert requirement, travel, night shift, or overtime that isn't really optional. Worth establishing which before you accept.

The local market in Los Angeles, CA

We're tracking 100 other active welding openings in Los Angeles, CA right now, from 50 different employers. 33 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 505 other active welding openings from 240 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.

Antares currently has 4 other openings live in California, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (37), Relativity Space (18), and Welding Shop in Los Angeles, CA (13). 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 El Segundo at $53/hr, Pasadena at $50/hr, and Long Beach at $49/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. Senior Structural Engineer - Space figures were last recalculated when this page was built.