Senior Missile Structure and Actuation Engineer

nou Systems, Inc. (nSI) is now officially a 100% ESOP company! We value teamwork and collaboration, and this transition allows us to take that commitment to a new level. nSI empowers our customers by supplying products, services, and expertise with powerful, data driven insights that transform defense systems and improve capabilities.

nou Systems, Inc. (nSI) is here to build systems that solve our nation's most challenging defense problems in an enjoyable, stimulating environment. We're looking for talented builders with high levels of curiosity and extremely strong grounding in fundamentals and engineering first principles. If you're hungry for harder problems, used to working quickly, and excited to take innovative systems from napkin to the field, this is your happy place. 

We are pleased to announce the opening for a Senior Missile Structure and Actuation Engineer who will join our elite R&D team in Huntsville, Alabama building transformative low cost interceptors for emerging DoD applications. nSI is known for fielding revolutionary missile defense systems, pioneering step changes in RF seeker technology, introducing principled AI systems, and rapidly pioneering novel defense platforms, from space to the seabed.  We're small and agile, and ready to disrupt the status quo. 

Responsibilities:

Our small team has developed a game-changing interferometric RF seeker technology which has significant implications for making low-complexity, low-cost, high-performance interceptors for combating raids of asymmetric threats. Our seeker approach is patented, tested, funded by multiple customers, and in high demand for emerging threats. 

You will be an integral part of a team developing a best-in-class interceptor around this seeker as our structure and actuation lead. Starting from your knowledge of both first principles and practical deployment challenges, you'll architect, rapidly prototype, and test the airframe, internal structure, and aero control actuators for highly maneuverable, small diameter (120 mm and lower) surface-to-air interceptor designs. You will define the optimal airframe configuration, design lightweight yet robust structural solutions, select and integrate actuator systems, and develop innovative mechanical solutions that push the boundaries of what's achievable at low-cost in contested environments against stressing threats. Your work will span the full mechanical system - from aerodynamic load analysis through structural optimization to actuator integration and control surface design. Canards, chords, composites, control surface actuators, and cost optimization should be your bread and butter. 

You'll interface directly with aerodynamics, manufacturing, propulsion, and GNC experts to ensure your structural/actuation designs exploit our seeker to the fullest. This includes developing high-performance, low-cost structural designs that maintain integrity across the full flight envelope and designing robust actuation systems that deliver precise control authority under the extreme conditions of supersonic flight.

As part of our small, elite team, you'll take structural and actuation concepts from whiteboard sketches to flight tests in months, not years. 

Basic Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

• Master's degree minimum in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or similar technical field
• Seven years of full-time professional experience in missile or aerospace structures and actuation engineering roles
• Must possess or have the ability to obtain an active Secret Security Clearance

Technical Competencies - You must demonstrate expertise in:

• Missile airframe structural design including monocoque, semi-monocoque, composite sandwich, and hybrid structures
• Actuator system design and integration (electromechanical, pneumatic, or hydraulic)
• Finite element analysis (FEA) and structural optimization
• Aeroelastic analysis and flutter prediction
• Thermal-structural analysis for supersonic flight vehicles
• Manufacturing and assembly considerations for low-cost, high-volume, reliable supply-chain production
• Impact of structural and actuation choices on platform cost, other subsystems, and integration/manufacturing complexity

Core Technical Skills:

• Deep understanding of structural dynamics, vibration, and shock environments in missile systems
• Sufficient technical expertise to understand the impact of seeker integration, warhead placement, propulsion loads, control surface effectiveness, and flight envelope on structural design
• Proficiency in rapid prototyping of structural designs from