Senior Mechanical Engineer
About this role
We are looking for a Senior Mechanical Engineer with 5+ years of experience to serve as a Responsible Engineer for critical mechanical subsystems on our autonomous underwater vehicle platform. You'll join a fast-moving, SpaceX-inspired team building attritable UUVs from the ground up for the U.S. Navy. We need someone who can own their subsystem end-to-end — from concept through design, analysis, prototyping, field testing, and production — and get hardware in the water within months, not years. This is a role for a self-starting builder who thrives on speed, makes smart trade-offs to hit the 80% fast, and challenges requirements using first-principles thinking.
What will you be doing?
Own one of five mechanical subsystems (Hull & Hydrodynamics, Structures & Integration, Mechanisms & Actuation, Battery & Energy Storage, or Propulsion) as the Responsible Engineer through its entire lifecycle
Design in CAD (NX preferred), perform FEA/CFD analysis (NX Nastran, Ansys Fluent, or Siemens Star-CCM+), and iterate rapidly between design, analysis, and test without relying on dedicated analysts
Prototype, assemble, and validate hardware on the bench and in the water — including field testing and sea trials
Integrate your subsystem with electrical, firmware, and software counterparts, managing cross-disciplinary interfaces without systems engineers as intermediaries
Work directly with manufacturing partners and suppliers, validating components with first-principles physics rather than blindly trusting supplier data, and driving your subsystem to mass production readiness
Company at a glance
This defense technology startup, founded in 2024 by veterans from SpaceX, Tesla, and Vast Space, develops multi-domain autonomous systems for the U.S. Navy at significantly lower costs than established competitors.
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
SpaceX-inspired culture with strong Responsible Engineer model
Every engineer owns their system end-to-end: requirements, design, implementation, testing, field deployment, and production
Team moves fast, works hard, and expects urgency that early-stage defense demands
Values builders over researchers, first-principles thinking over inherited convention, and speed over process
Decisions driven by physics, test data, and product outcomes
No organizational handoffs or siloed responsibilities
Greenfield environment with no legacy code or inherited architecture
Hands-on engineering culture with work in lab, dive pool, and field deployments
Small elite team of ~7 people where every hire has outsized impact
Rapid iteration and intensity expected
Engineers make foundational technical decisions from scratch
Know someone who'd be great for this?