Principal Mechanical Engineer

ABOUT THE ROLE Join a small defense technology team developing autonomous, field-deployed directed energy systems. You will provide senior mechanical engineering judgment across the full system, guiding hardware from architecture and integration through production readiness and field use. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Own mechanical architecture across the system and lead integration with electrical, power, embedded, and optics disciplines. - Make technical decisions on complex hardware problems from concept through production readiness. - Guide hardware release and production processes in partnership with manufacturing. - Review designs, analysis, and documentation to identify risks early and maintain strong engineering standards. - Perform hands-on engineering work where your experience can resolve challenging problems quickly. - Make design and manufacturing tradeoffs across cost, mass, reliability, schedule, and field performance. - Share technical expertise through hands-on mentorship and design collaboration. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - At least 10 years of experience designing and shipping complex hardware systems. - Mechanical engineering is your primary discipline, with recent hands-on experience in CAD, structures, mechanisms, and packaging. - Repeated experience taking hardware from prototype through manufacturing and field deployment. - Experience leading full-system integration across mechanical and multiple engineering disciplines, with meaningful judgment in electrical, power electronics, or embedded systems. - Experience with ruggedized hardware, real-world operating environments, and analysis such as FEA or hand calculations correlated against test data. - A senior individual contributor or technical lead background at a hardware company that shipped products. - Defense, aerospace, robotics, high-performance automotive, maritime, or directed energy experience is relevant. Experience with high-power thermal management, beam-directing mechanisms, manufacturing scale-up, or military-grade qualification is valuable. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Base salary: $235,000 to $305,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. LOCATION On-site in San Francisco, California, United States.