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Inversion
Actively hiring

Avionics Mechanical Engineer I

Workplace
On-site
Commitment
Full-time
Seniority
Junior
Salary
$77,000-116,000/yr
Posted
Location
Playa Vista, United States

As an Avionics Mechanical Engineer, you will report to the Manager of Arc Vehicle Avionics and design, build, and test the mechanical hardware that packages, protects, and integrates avionics systems on the company's vehicles. You will develop secondary structures and electromechanical packaging for flight computers, power systems, radios, navigation sensors, remote I/O, harnessing, and other avionics hardware. The role spans CAD design, drawings, analysis, manufacturing support, assembly, and environmental test execution. This is a hands-on, early-career engineering position working closely with electrical, avionics, production, and vehicle-integration engineers to turn electronics into flight-ready hardware.

Responsibilities

  • Design avionics enclosures, mounting brackets, trays, panels, sensor mounts, cable-routing features, and other secondary structures.
  • Support packaging and installation of flight computers, power-distribution hardware, batteries, radios, navigation sensors, cameras, remote I/O, and associated harnessing.
  • Produce engineering drawings, CAD models, BOMs, assembly instructions, and other release documentation.
  • Design for mass, stiffness, thermal performance, vibration, shock, access, manufacturability, serviceability, and vehicle interfaces.
  • Work with electrical engineers to define mechanical interfaces for connectors, harness routing, grounding, thermal paths, sensor placement, and board-level packaging.
  • Support fabrication, machining, inspection, assembly, and integration of avionics hardware.
  • Participate in fit checks, bench tests, vibration tests, thermal tests, and other environmental test activities.
  • Coordinate with Production early to ensure designs are manufacturable, inspectable, and support the required build schedule.
  • Support vehicle integration by maintaining clean interface definitions and resolving mechanical integration issues.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, a related field, or equivalent technical experience
  • Typically 1+ years of internship, academic research, or professional experience developing hardware for aerospace, defense, or similarly demanding applications.
  • Proficiency in 3D CAD software such as NX, CATIA, SolidWorks, Creo, or equivalent.
  • Familiarity with creating mechanical drawings, assemblies, and bills of materials.
  • Working knowledge of GD&T, tolerance stack-up, fasteners, materials, and standard manufacturing processes.
  • Familiarity with mechanical design for vibration, shock, thermal environments, and basic structural loading.
  • Hands-on experience building, assembling, testing, or troubleshooting mechanical or electromechanical hardware.
  • Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Nice to have

  • Experience designing enclosures, electronics packaging, test fixtures, brackets, or secondary structures for aerospace, robotics, automotive, defense, or other hardware products.
  • Experience with CNC-machined parts, sheet metal, additive manufacturing, composite parts, or related manufacturing processes.
  • Familiarity with spacecraft, launch vehicle, or UAV flight phases and operations.
  • Demonstrated technical execution through collegiate engineering teams (such as Formula SAE, rocket clubs, or robotics design groups).
  • Prior internship experience in a fast-paced aerospace or robotics startup environment.