Mechanical Engineer II
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Workplace
- On-site
- Compensation
- $140k – $160k + equity
About this role
We are looking for a Mechanical Engineer II with 5+ years of experience to design and develop spaceflight bioinstrumentation hardware that enables scientific research and manufacturing in space. You'll be a systems thinker who considers how your designs integrate with other functions—weight, thermal implications, and cross-disciplinary constraints. You'll join a small, scrappy founding team that includes a Mechanical Engineer, Head of Software, and Head of Engineering, where you'll have hands-on ownership of hardware development from early concepts through deployment. This is a rare opportunity to shape the mechanical engineering and fabrication processes of a company building the infrastructure for the next industrial revolution beyond Earth.
What will you be doing?
Design and analyze mechanical hardware for spaceflight bioinstrumentation, including electromechanical and microfluidic systems, evaluating design tradeoffs across weight, thermal, and integration constraints
Apply rapid prototyping techniques (FDM, SLA, laser cutting, CNC machining) to quickly evaluate and refine designs
Develop CAD models, engineering drawings, and technical documentation to support fabrication and manufacturing
Partner with manufacturing teams to complete Design for Manufacturing (DFM) reviews and transition designs into production
Contribute to Assembly, Integration, and Test (AIT) efforts of full flight systems
What happens next
Skip the application pile. I get you in front of the people who decide.
Confirm the fit
A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.
I pitch you to the company
I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.
A meeting lands on your calendar
When the company wants to meet, I get the call on your calendar. You just show up.
Culture & values
Helogen is a small, high-caliber team of roughly 12–13 people united by a singular mission.
The team is composed primarily of scientists and engineers spanning materials science, microbiology, stem cell science, aerospace systems, software, and mechanical engineering, with commercial leadership rounding out the org.
The company emphasizes world-class expertise across biotech, aerospace, and defense converging around a shared, audacious goal.
Helogen operates at a high cadence, having built and launched two satellites and planning eight missions over the next two years, signaling a fast-paced culture.
There is a spirit of ownership, resourcefulness, and hands-on execution that defines the culture.
This is not a company where you support a subsystem from a distance; everyone touches real hardware, solves real problems, and ships real missions.
During launch campaigns, the team does what it takes—nights and weekends included.
Outside of those windows, there is flexibility and trust to get the work done without rigid oversight.
Know someone who'd be great for this?
