Design Lead Jobs in San Jose, CA
Design Lead jobs in San Jose are concentrated in North San Jose, Downtown, and the Santana Row corridor, with strong demand across enterprise software, semiconductor, and consumer electronics sectors. Employers hiring right now include Cisco, archer, and Astera Labs. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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About the role
Muon seeks a Staff Mechanical Engineer to serve as the mechanical design technical lead for one of our satellite classes. You'll own and iterate on the class-level mechanical architecture- bus structure, thermal, solar, and payload accommodation- while also owning specific mission instances built on that class, from requirements definition through launch integration, typically over 10-15 months per mission.
You'll start with Muon's platform building blocks and tailor them to mission needs, designing new mission-specific and platform components where required and making architecture decisions that balance performance, cost, and schedule. This is an individual contributor role with strong technical leadership responsibilities, including the potential for people management of a small team of mechanical engineers.
Due to the hands-on nature of this role, it requires onsite work at our San Jose location three days a week.
Responsibilities
- Own the mechanical architecture and design direction for a satellite class, balancing the needs of multiple concurrent and future missions
- Serve as mission mechanical lead for specific missions using your satellite class, delivering bus structure, thermal, solar, and payload mechanical solutions from requirements definition through launch vehicle integration
- Lead the design, analysis, and optimization of spacecraft structures, mechanisms, and mechanical subsystems, applying first-principles engineering to problems beyond established approaches
- Iterate and evolve the satellite class — improving performance, mass, cost, and manufacturability — and ensure designs scale from prototype builds to constellation quantities
- Work directly with customers on requirements, technical reviews, and proposal content; partner with Business Development to identify platform enhancement opportunities
- Define and champion mechanical design standards, review processes, and best practices across the organization
- Lead design reviews (PDR, CDR, MRR) and environmental test campaigns (vibration, TVAC, EMI)
- Coordinate multidisciplinary execution across structural, thermal, avionics, optical, RF, and program teams
- Mentor mechanical engineers at all levels; hire, onboard, and manage a small team as needed
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience designing, building, and testing flight hardware in space or other related industry
- Experience owning a spacecraft platform, product line, or major subsystem across multiple missions or products
- Proven track record of optimizing and maturing existing designs, not only clean-sheet development
- Deep competence in one or more of: structural mechanics and analysis, thermal management and modeling, environmental testing (TVAC, vibration)
- Mastery of drawings, GD&T, BOMs, FAIs, tolerance budgets, and mass budgets; proficiency with CAD (SolidWorks preferred), PLM, and FEA tools
- Customer-facing experience: technical interchanges, requirements discussions, or proposal contributions
- Demonstrated success mentoring and technically leading engineers and/or technicians
- Experience managing external vendors for part development and manufacturing
- Excellent communication, presentation, and cross-functional coordination skills
- B.S. or higher in Mechanical Engineering or related field
Nice-to-have Skills
- Experience as a platform owner or product-line technical lead at a space company
- Direct contributions to winning proposals (technical volumes, orals, customer Q&A)
- Experience establishing engineering standards and best practices at an organizational level
- Experience with deployable structures (solar arrays, antennas, mechanisms)
- Optomechanical instrument or payload design experience
- Experience with ADCS components: reaction wheels, torque rods, star trackers
- Experience running structural analyses (FEMAP, ANSYS); software skills in Python or MATLAB
Salary
The salary range for this role is $202,000 - $223,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.
About Muon Space
Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.
Taking Care of Our Team
At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave.
Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too. Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We value diversity in the workplace, and that starts with our applicants. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check all the boxes, and we look forward to reviewing your application! In addition, if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.
ITAR/EAR Requirements
This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.
About the role
Muon seeks a Staff Mechanical Engineer to serve as the mechanical design technical lead for one of our satellite classes. You'll own and iterate on the class-level mechanical architecture- bus structure, thermal, solar, and payload accommodation- while also owning specific mission instances built on that class, from requirements definition through launch integration, typically over 10-15 months per mission.
You'll start with Muon's platform building blocks and tailor them to mission needs, designing new mission-specific and platform components where required and making architecture decisions that balance performance, cost, and schedule. This is an individual contributor role with strong technical leadership responsibilities, including the potential for people management of a small team of mechanical engineers.
Due to the hands-on nature of this role, it requires onsite work at our San Jose location three days a week.
Responsibilities
- Own the mechanical architecture and design direction for a satellite class, balancing the needs of multiple concurrent and future missions
- Serve as mission mechanical lead for specific missions using your satellite class, delivering bus structure, thermal, solar, and payload mechanical solutions from requirements definition through launch vehicle integration
- Lead the design, analysis, and optimization of spacecraft structures, mechanisms, and mechanical subsystems, applying first-principles engineering to problems beyond established approaches
- Iterate and evolve the satellite class — improving performance, mass, cost, and manufacturability — and ensure designs scale from prototype builds to constellation quantities
- Work directly with customers on requirements, technical reviews, and proposal content; partner with Business Development to identify platform enhancement opportunities
- Define and champion mechanical design standards, review processes, and best practices across the organization
- Lead design reviews (PDR, CDR, MRR) and environmental test campaigns (vibration, TVAC, EMI)
- Coordinate multidisciplinary execution across structural, thermal, avionics, optical, RF, and program teams
- Mentor mechanical engineers at all levels; hire, onboard, and manage a small team as needed
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience designing, building, and testing flight hardware in space or other related industry
- Experience owning a spacecraft platform, product line, or major subsystem across multiple missions or products
- Proven track record of optimizing and maturing existing designs, not only clean-sheet development
- Deep competence in one or more of: structural mechanics and analysis, thermal management and modeling, environmental testing (TVAC, vibration)
- Mastery of drawings, GD&T, BOMs, FAIs, tolerance budgets, and mass budgets; proficiency with CAD (SolidWorks preferred), PLM, and FEA tools
- Customer-facing experience: technical interchanges, requirements discussions, or proposal contributions
- Demonstrated success mentoring and technically leading engineers and/or technicians
- Experience managing external vendors for part development and manufacturing
- Excellent communication, presentation, and cross-functional coordination skills
- B.S. or higher in Mechanical Engineering or related field
Nice-to-have Skills
- Experience as a platform owner or product-line technical lead at a space company
- Direct contributions to winning proposals (technical volumes, orals, customer Q&A)
- Experience establishing engineering standards and best practices at an organizational level
- Experience with deployable structures (solar arrays, antennas, mechanisms)
- Optomechanical instrument or payload design experience
- Experience with ADCS components: reaction wheels, torque rods, star trackers
- Experience running structural analyses (FEMAP, ANSYS); software skills in Python or MATLAB
Salary
The salary range for this role is $202,000 - $223,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.
About Muon Space
Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.
Taking Care of Our Team
At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave.
Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too. Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We value diversity in the workplace, and that starts with our applicants. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check all the boxes, and we look forward to reviewing your application! In addition, if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.
ITAR/EAR Requirements
This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.
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Who's Hiring
- Cisco24
- archer24
- Astera Labs18
- AMD6
- Cadence6
Top Industries Hiring
- Electronics & Hardware
- Consulting & Professional Services
Design Lead Jobs in San Jose: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a design lead job in San Jose?
The strongest path into a design lead role in San Jose runs through the city's enterprise software and hardware companies, where cross-functional product teams run large enough to need a dedicated design lead. Candidates who can show systems-level thinking, experience managing junior designers, and familiarity with hardware or platform constraints stand out in San Jose's market. Targeting North San Jose's R&D campuses and Downtown's growing startup scene gives you the widest range of openings.
Which companies hire design leads in San Jose?
Employers hiring design leads in San Jose right now include Cisco, archer, and Astera Labs, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. San Jose's hiring mix skews toward established technology firms and semiconductor companies, alongside a smaller but active layer of enterprise SaaS and consumer electronics startups in and around the Downtown and Santana Row areas.
Are there remote design lead jobs in San Jose?
Yes, though remote availability varies by specialization. About 13% of design lead openings tied to San Jose are remote or hybrid as of August 2026, with hybrid arrangements being more common than fully remote. Roles focused on UX strategy and digital product design tend to be the most remote-friendly, while positions tied to hardware development or physical product design generally require on-site presence at San Jose facilities.
How can I get a design lead job in San Jose with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path in San Jose is moving laterally from a senior individual contributor role at one of the city's mid-size software or consumer electronics companies, where design teams are large enough to promote from within. Targeting associate design lead or design manager titles at San Jose's enterprise SaaS firms gives you structured mentorship and defined promotion tracks. A portfolio showing end-to-end ownership of at least one product, even from a personal or freelance project, consistently opens doors locally.
Which industries hire the most design leads in San Jose?
The sectors hiring the most design leads in San Jose are Electronics & Hardware and Consulting & Professional Services, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. San Jose's role as the center of Silicon Valley means these sectors maintain large in-house design organizations that need lead-level talent to manage growing teams and coordinate across engineering and product functions.
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