Mechanical Engineer - Stratospheric Balloons in Denver, Colorado at Urban Sky

About Urban Sky

Urban Sky is a venture-backed aerospace startup on a mission to pioneer humanity’s routine, easy access to the stratosphere and the value locked within it. We design, build, operate, and sell stratospheric balloon systems. The data we collect supports a wide range of applications, from real-time wildfire monitoring to urban mapping. Our technology is also employed by government customers including the Department of War (DoW), NASA, and others. Urban Sky sends flight vehicles to the stratosphere on a weekly basis.

Our team consists of engineers, makers, developers, and doers who believe in the power of human potential when passion meets utility within a small, supportive team. At Urban Sky we strive to create a team culture grounded in candor, inclusion, respect and empowerment.

We aim to build the next chapter of stratospheric history in Denver and Texas and are seeking self-starting, open-minded, and hard-working team members.

Position Overview / Onsite / Full-time / Salary

Urban Sky is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to join our Engineering team in Denver, CO, supporting our stratospheric balloon development. In this role you will own the mechanical design, structural analysis, and fabrication management of the flight vehicle’s structural components, as well as the thermal design and packaging of the electronic enclosures that house its avionics, power, communications, and altitude-control systems. You will translate demanding stratospheric requirements—extreme cold, low pressure, solar loading, long-duration unattended operation, and aggressive mass budgets—into robust, manufacturable hardware. This is a hands-on position on a small, dedicated, fast-paced team: you will not only design and analyze your parts, but also build, assemble, and test them in the lab and in the field, and see them through to flight.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the mechanical design, analysis, and fabrication management of structural components for super-pressure balloon flight vehicles—including airframe structures, mounting hardware, harness and gondola structures, and load paths for actuators and termination systems.
• Perform structural analysis (hand calculations and FEA) for static, dynamic, shock, and thermal loads across the full flight envelope, and document margins against requirements.
• Design and analyze the thermal management of electronic enclosures operating in stratospheric conditions—managing extreme cold (battery thermal floors well below freezing), low convective heat transfer at altitude, internal heat dissipation, and solar/radiative loading to keep avionics, batteries, and power electronics within their operating limits.
• Develop electronics packaging designs for flight computer, power, communications (satellite/GNSS), and altitude-control and termination electronics—addressing enclosure layout, board mounting, connectorization, sealing, conformal/potting strategies, EMI considerations, and serviceability.
• Manage fabrication and procurement of structural and enclosure hardware, working with internal makers and external suppliers across machining, sheet metal, 3D printing, and composite or injection-molded parts.
• Build, assemble, and bench-test your own designs, and support environmental and functional testing under thermal, vacuum, and low-pressure conditions to validate performance before flight.
• Support field operations—assembling, integrating, and testing flight hardware at launch sites, troubleshooting on the line, and recovering and inspecting flown hardware to drive design iteration.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams—including avionics, electrical, firmware, power, and operations engineers—to ensure mechanical, thermal, and packaging designs integrate cleanly with the rest of the vehicle and contribute to mission success.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a related engineering discipline, or equivalent experience.
• 3-10+ years of experience in mechanical design, structural analysis, and fabrication of flight, aerospace, or other rugged electromechanical systems.
• Proficiency in CAD software (e.g., OnShape, AutoCAD, or Fusion 360) for designing complex mechanical structures and enclosures.
• Demonstrated experience in structural analysis, including hand calculations and FEA, and in defining and verifying design margins.
• Working knowledge of thermal design and analysis—conduction, convection, and radiation—as applied to electronic enclosures and battery/power systems.
• Experience with electronics packaging, including enclosure design, board and component mounting, connectors, sealing, and thermal interfaces.
• Strong knowledge of materials and manufacturing processes, including machining, 3D printing, sheet metal, and injection molding.
• Experience with environmental testing, including thermal, vibration, and vacuum conditions.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex data, and a hands-on aptitude for assembling and testing hardware.
• Skillful in diagnosing issues and implementing effective solutions.
• Willing to travel to launch and field locations to assemble, integrate, and demonstrate flight hardware.

Nice-to-Haves / Preferred Skills:

• Experience in aerospace, high-altitude, or near-space applications.
• Knowledge of stratospheric or high-altitude conditions and their impact on mechanical, thermal, and electronic systems.
• Hands-on experience designing enclosures and thermal management systems for extreme environments.
• Familiarity with integrating mechanical systems with electronics, sensors, batteries, and motorized actuators (e.g., winch or altitude-control mechanisms).
• Familiarity with mass-constrained, lightweight structural design and verification.
• Experience supporting Department of Defense (DoD) programs, with an understanding of relevant interface, security, and environmental requirements for stratospheric or near-space operations.
• Great people skills and a thrive-in-ambiguity mindset suited to a small, fast-paced team.

Requirements:

• Must be US Citizen or Permanent Resident
• Must be located near Denver, CO

Urban Sky is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.