Principal Mechanical Engineer (Aerospace & Defense)

Location: El Segundo, California, United States. Full-time, on-site position.

Base salary: $175k–$215k annually, excluding bonuses, equity, and benefits.

Company

hirify.global develops advanced sensing and detection solutions for aerospace, defense, commercial air operations, and border protection applications using Coherent Distributed Networks.

What you will do

• Lead hands-on mechanical integration and prototyping of electronics, enclosures, effectors, launchers, mechanisms, and support equipment into ground- and sea-mobile platforms.
• Architect and design mechanical structures, frames, mounts, enclosures, and mechanisms subject to shock, vibration, thermal, and environmental constraints.
• Develop 3D CAD models, large assemblies, and interface control documentation to support multidisciplinary system integration.
• Perform first-order structural and thermal analyses, allocate requirements, and support compliance with customer requirements and military standards.
• Lead system-level integration, qualification, acceptance, installation, alignment, and fit-check activities.
• Interface with customers, platform providers, suppliers, and manufacturing partners while supporting make/buy decisions, production transition, configuration control, and fielded-system sustainment.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
• 8+ years of progressively responsible experience in platform-level mechanical design and system integration for aerospace and defense applications.
• Experience integrating mechanical subsystems and mission systems into vehicles, mobile platforms, or fixed installations.
• Strong proficiency with CAD tools such as SolidWorks or equivalent for large assemblies and top-down design.
• Strong understanding of mechanical interfaces, tolerancing, alignment, installation practices, and interface control documents.
• Familiarity with structural analysis methods, including hand calculations and FEA, ruggedized military hardware, and environmental qualification considerations.
• Experience interpreting and applying military standards such as MIL-STD-810 and related platform qualification requirements.
• Ability to lead technical decisions and resolve complex cross-disciplinary integration challenges, with strong communication skills in multi-project development environments.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Nice to have

• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
• Experience serving as a mechanical technical authority on a program.
• Experience with mechanisms and actuation systems, including linkages, bearings, motors, hydraulics, pneumatics, gimbals, or rotary joints.
• Experience with system-level requirements allocation and vehicle integration constraints such as shock, vibration, transport, and operational loads.
• Experience with commercial FEA or multiphysics packages such as NASTRAN, ABAQUS, ANSYS, CFD codes, or COMSOL.
• Knowledge of manufacturing and assembly processes for mobile or deployable mechanical structures and mechanisms.
• Experience with prototyping, additive manufacturing, CNC machining, and other fabrication techniques.
• Familiarity with military-style connectors such as MIL-Circular 38999, ARINC, and micro-D.

Culture & Benefits

• 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, no-meeting Fridays, unlimited PTO, and a casual dress code.
• Competitive base salary, pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and planned annual bonuses.
• Approximately 200 employees across five global offices.