--- title: "Composites Design Engineer (Space Launch New Zealand)" company: "Dawn Aerospace" company_url: "https://www.remjobs.works/companies/dawn-aerospace" url: "https://www.remjobs.works/job/dawn-aerospace-composites-design-engineer-space-launch-new-zealand-e22a7ba4-a71e-4ac1-9733-1f3fbf325855" apply_url: "https://job-boards.anz.greenhouse.io/dawnaerospace/jobs/4007212201" workplace: onsite location: "Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand" employment_type: unspecified seniority: mid role: software-engineering region: asia-pacific date_posted: 2026-09-24T13:43:57.000Z first_seen_by_remjobs: 2026-09-24T14:12:45.276Z --- # Composites Design Engineer (Space Launch New Zealand) **Dawn Aerospace** · Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand Apply: https://job-boards.anz.greenhouse.io/dawnaerospace/jobs/4007212201 ## About the role **Our mission: Fly to space twice in a day.** At Dawn Aerospace, we're building a future where access to space is as routine as air travel. Our Aurora spaceplane programme is developing a rapidly reusable, rocket-powered aircraft capable of transforming how humanity reaches space. This isn't a programme for people who want to spend years working on a small component of a large aircraft. This is an opportunity to design and build flight-critical hardware for one of the most ambitious aerospace projects in the world, seeing your work move rapidly from concept to manufacturing, testing and flight. We're looking for a **Composites Design Engineer** to join our Spaceplane team in Christchurch. You'll play a key role in designing the next generation of composite airframe structures that will enable routine, scalable and sustainable access to space. Working alongside world-class engineers across aerodynamics, propulsion, avionics, systems and manufacturing, you'll help solve some of the toughest structural challenges in aerospace while contributing directly to flight hardware. ##### What you will do - Design primary and secondary composite airframe structures, including fuselage, wings, control surfaces and internal structural components. - Own components and assemblies from concept through detailed design, manufacturing, testing and flight. - Develop composite laminate schedules, manufacturing drawings, tooling, assembly fixtures and engineering documentation. - Perform structural sizing, optimisation and trade studies using analytical and numerical methods. - Work closely with manufacturing teams to ensure designs are practical, producible and robust. - Support structural test, qualification and flight-test campaigns. - Collaborate with aerodynamics, systems, avionics and propulsion engineers to deliver integrated vehicle solutions. - Drive continuous improvement of design methodologies, engineering standards and development processes. ##### About You You are a hands-on engineer who enjoys solving difficult problems and taking ownership of real hardware. You thrive in fast-moving environments where decisions matter, designs become reality quickly and every engineer has visible impact. You enjoy working across disciplines, learning new things and tackling challenges that have never been solved before. If you're looking for a highly structured organisation with narrow responsibilities and lengthy development cycles, this role probably isn't for you. If you're excited about helping build the future of space transportation, we'd love to hear from you. **Important:** If you think you have what it takes but don't meet every requirement listed below, we still encourage you to apply. **Diversity & Inclusion** At Dawn Aerospace, we believe that diverse teams build better solutions. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences are valued and supported to do their best work. **About Dawn Aerospace** Dawn Aerospace is a space transportation company with a purpose. Our mission is to enable the next generation of space users by providing more sustainable and scalable ways to access and move around in space. We believe this access, in the form of a transportation network, will fundamentally change what’s possible from space. We currently focus on three areas of space transportation: - In-space propulsionWe're a leading supplier of turnkey green propulsion systems for various classes of satellites. Our systems utilise safe, accessible propellants and we have over 170 of these propulsion units on more than 40 operational satellites already. A further 200 units are in production. - In-space servicingCoupled with our propulsion expertise, we are ensuring that our customers' satellites are refuellable. In the coming years, Dawn will offer a refueling service to enable life extension of customer satellites. This new market is aligned with our sustainability goal to ensue a clean and safe space for everyone! - SpaceplaneWe are developing the fastest and highest-flying aircraft ever to take off from a runway, combining the extreme performance of rocket propulsion with the reusability of conventional airplanes to enable high-frequency, low-cost access to sub-orbital space. Our international teams are distributed across four locations: the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, and the USA. **Apply for this Job** **Important!** If you think you have what it takes but are unsure that you check every box, we still want to hear from you. **To all recruitment agencies**: Dawn Aerospace does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our job’s alias, our employees, or any other company location. Dawn Aerospace will not be responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes. --- Source: Dawn Aerospace's own career page, read by RemJobs. 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