Senior Mechanical Design Engineer Aerospace & UAV Systems

Overview

We are building a safety-critical electromechanical system integrated into a small UAV platform. This role owns the end-to-end mechanical design of ruggedized, field-deployed hardware, including structural design, internal mechanisms, and mechanical safety architecture.

The system must reliably withstand vibration, shock, environmental exposure, and handling while maintaining strict fail-safe behavior across all operating states.

You will be responsible for taking mechanical systems from concept through CAD, prototyping, validation testing, and production handoff in a fast-iteration, small-team engineering environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Design mechanical assemblies including housings, internal structures, and actuation/safety mechanisms using parametric CAD tools.
• Develop mechanical safety architecture in collaboration with electrical and software teams (interlocks, fail-safe geometry, mechanical state constraints).
• Define materials, finishes, tolerances, fasteners, and mechanical interfaces for harsh operating environments.
• Build and iterate prototypes using in-house fabrication (3D printing, CNC machining, basic manual machining).
• Execute mechanical validation testing including drop, shock, vibration, and environmental qualification.
• Produce manufacturing-ready documentation (GD&T drawings, tolerance stacks, BOMs, and DFM packages).
• Own system mass properties and center-of-gravity budgets for UAV integration.
• Collaborate cross-functionally on system integration (PCB constraints, connectors, harness routing, mechanical actuation interfaces).
• Support vendor engagement for machining, injection molding, and production scaling.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of mechanical design experience in field-deployed, rugged, or regulated industries (UAV, aerospace, defense, automotive, or industrial systems).
• Strong proficiency in parametric CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Onshape, Creo, NX, etc.).
• Experience producing manufacturing-ready drawings (GD&T, tolerance analysis, fits, surface finishes).
• Hands-on prototyping experience (3D printing, CNC machining, mill/lathe familiarity).
• Strong understanding of failure modes and design-for-reliability principles.
• Demonstrated end-to-end ownership: concept design prototype test production transfer.
• Strong written and verbal English communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with safety-critical mechanical systems (fail-safe mechanisms, safety interlocks, or similar regulated hardware).
• Familiarity with environmental/qualification standards (MIL-STD-810 or equivalent).
• Experience with FEA / structural simulation (Ansys, SolidWorks Simulation, or similar).
• DFM experience for injection molding, metal casting, or precision manufacturing.
• Background in UAV/FPV systems or mass/CG-sensitive mechanical design.

Work Environment

• Small, high-ownership engineering team with fast iteration cycles (weekly hardware builds).
• Close collaboration between mechanical, electrical, and software engineers.
• Strong emphasis on test-driven design, rapid prototyping, and production readiness.
• Engineers are expected to own systems end-to-end and actively challenge design constraints when needed.

Location & Onsite Requirement

• Full-time onsite role (5 days/week).
• Mandatory 1-month onsite training in Kearneysville, West Virginia.
• After training, relocation to and onsite work from one of the following hubs:
• San Francisco Bay Area, CA
• Los Angeles, CA
• Washington, DC Metro Area
• Candidates must be willing to relocate; relocation assistance is not provided.

Mechanical Design Engineer, UAV mechanical engineer, aerospace hardware engineer, safety-critical systems, CAD design engineer, SolidWorks, GD&T, DFM engineer, prototyping engineer, CNC machining, UAV payload design, rugged systems engineer, mechanical systems engineer, FEA engineer, defense hardware engineering.