Mechanical Design Engineer, Structures (Aerospace)

Location: Huntington Beach, California, United States. The role requires availability for extended hours and weekends during critical development and test milestones.

Salary: $105,000–$140,000 USD annually, plus performance incentives, equity, and benefits.

Company

Mach Industries is a rapidly growing defense technology startup developing autonomous defense platforms and scalable manufacturing systems for the United States and its allies.

What you will do

• Own mechanical design and development of subsystem-level hardware from CAD concepts through functional prototypes and production.
• Create and maintain 3D CAD models, engineering drawings, GD&T documentation, and manufacturing records.
• Design fixtures and tooling for manufacturing, assembly, inspection, qualification, and testing of aerospace assemblies.
• Support vehicle-level qualification, design validation, subscale testing, coupon testing, and design iteration.
• Apply structural, thermal, and materials fundamentals to develop lightweight designs optimized for strength, stiffness, manufacturing, assembly, mass, and cost.
• Author test plans, technical documentation, and engineering milestones while collaborating with multidisciplinary teams.

Requirements

• At least 1 year of mechanical engineering experience focused on designing and prototyping mechanical systems, including professional, academic, or hobby experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong 3D CAD modeling skills using tools such as NX or SolidWorks, including GD&T according to ASME Y14.5.
• End-to-end ownership of hands-on hardware development, such as FSAE, DBF, Rocket Team, or similar projects.
• Must meet applicable U.S. export-control requirements: U.S. citizenship or nationality, lawful permanent residency, refugee or asylee status, or eligibility to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice to have

• Experience with lightweight materials, composites, additive manufacturing, or structural sizing using hand calculations, FEA, Nastran, or multiphysics software.
• Experience supporting coupon-, subscale-, or assembly-level development and qualification testing.
• Experience with aerodynamic, fluid-dynamic, thermal-management, sensor, actuator, or embedded-control integration.
• Programming experience with Python, MATLAB, or C++ for analytical modeling, simulation, and engineering problem-solving.

Culture & Benefits

• Hands-on work with real hardware across the full development cycle.
• Rapid iteration and collaboration across multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Performance-based incentives and equity participation.
• Healthcare, dental and vision coverage, retirement savings, and paid time off.
• Funding for continuing education, training, and professional development.