Senior Mechanical Engineer (RF Sensor Productization)

Location: Washington, D.C., United States; full-time, on-site 4–5 days per week. Periodic travel of up to 25% to field test sites and CHAOS facilities in Southern California is required. U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance are required.

Salary: $150,000–$200,000 per year in base compensation, excluding bonuses, equity, and benefits.

Company

hirify.global develops defense products powered by Coherent Distributed Networks for electromagnetic warfare, commercial air operations, and border protection.

What you will do

• Own the mechanical architecture and detailed design of passive RF geolocation sensor nodes, including enclosures, chassis, brackets, cable management, and external interfaces.
• Develop mounting solutions for masts, towers, rooftops, and ground vehicles, including deployment, leveling, and alignment features.
• Lead thermal design for sealed outdoor electronics and address heat sinking, thermal interfaces, solar loading, and cooling tradeoffs.
• Design for IP67-level environmental robustness, corrosion resistance, shock, vibration, humidity, and temperature extremes in line with MIL-STD-810 and customer requirements.
• Collaborate with RF, electrical, software, and manufacturing engineers on antenna and timing-reference integration, EMI/EMC shielding, grounding, connectors, and production readiness.
• Create production CAD, drawings with GD&T, BOMs, and interface control documents; support prototyping, qualification testing, supplier selection, field demonstrations, and failure investigations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of mechanical design experience with electronics enclosures or electromechanical systems for aerospace, defense, telecommunications, or harsh environments.
• Experience taking hardware from prototype through production release and proficiency with CAD tools such as SolidWorks or equivalent.
• Strong knowledge of GD&T, tolerance stack-up analysis, ASME Y14.5, thermal management, structural and thermal analysis, and FEA.
• Experience with CNC machining, sheet metal, die casting, injection molding, finishing, coatings, and environmental requirements such as MIL-STD-810 and IP ratings.
• Must be a U.S. citizen, work on-site in Washington, D.C. 4–5 days per week, and be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree, current U.S. security clearance, or experience in an early-stage hardware startup.
• Experience with RF hardware, antennas, radomes, SDR systems, EMI shielding, gasketing, and military-style connectors.
• Experience with mast, tower, or vehicle installations and environmental qualification testing.
• Experience with ANSYS, ABAQUS, NASTRAN, COMSOL, FloTHERM, Icepak, PLM/PDM systems, or formal configuration control.
• Experience working with contract manufacturers, machine shops, and offshore or domestic suppliers.

Culture & Benefits

• Hands-on work in a small, fast-moving, cross-disciplinary hardware team.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits fully paid by the company.
• 401(k) with a 50% company match up to 6% of pay, plus FSA, HSA, and life insurance.
• Free daily lunch while working on-site and a fully stocked kitchen.
• Unlimited PTO, casual dress code, relocation assistance, and pre-IPO stock option grants.