Mechanical Engineer, Aircraft

This is a general application for mechanical engineers who want to build aircraft. The role spans the full mechanical spectrum, including structures design, stress analysis, mechanisms, thermal management, propulsion integration, fluid systems, materials, and test engineering. You will design and analyze flight hardware, build and run test campaigns, and work with manufacturing and suppliers to get hardware built. The position is based onsite in Oxnard, CA, and supports ground and flight test operations.

Responsibilities

• Design primary and secondary structure for a large autonomous aircraft
• Perform structural analysis and margin assessments on flight hardware
• Design mechanisms and integrate actuation systems
• Solve thermal and packaging challenges in tight volumes
• Build and run test campaigns that prove your designs work
• Work directly with manufacturing and suppliers to get hardware built
• Support ground and flight test operations

Requirements

• BS or MS in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a related engineering field
• 3+ years of experience designing, analyzing, or testing hardware. Aircraft, spacecraft, automotive, or other high-performance hardware backgrounds all apply
• Proficiency in CAD (NX, CATIA, or SolidWorks) and a working knowledge of GD&T
• Hands-on mindset. You have built the things you designed
• Bias toward speed. You test early and iterate rather than perfect on paper
• Ability to work onsite in Oxnard, CA

Nice to have

• Composite aircraft structure experience
• Experience with FEA tools (Nastran, Abaqus, Ansys)
• Experience taking hardware through qualification or certification
• Experience at a startup or on a small, fast-moving team

Benefits

• Meaningful equity in a high-growth defense technology company
• Competitive base salary commensurate with experience
• Medical, dental, vision, and 401k
• PTO and paid sick leave
• Monthly wellness stipend
• Daily catered lunch (office)
• Paid parental leave
• Direct impact on a critical national security mission
• A world-class team of engineers and operators solving genuinely hard problems