Director of Mechanical Engineering

Red 6 • Louisville, CO

3d • $200,000 - $250,000

About The Position

The Director of Mechanical Engineering provides strategic and technical leadership for the design, integration, qualification, and production of advanced mechanical systems supporting Red 6’s augmented reality aerospace products. The role oversees end-to-end mechanical development for human-worn systems, avionics hardware, optical assemblies, sensors, and aircraft-integrated equipment, with a focus on mission-critical performance, environmental robustness, manufacturability, and maintainability.

The Director leads the Mechanical Engineering organization in developing lightweight, ruggedized solutions for demanding airborne environments. They establish engineering best practices, advance technical innovation, and ensure designs meet performance, environmental, airworthiness, and production objectives while supporting rapid product development. The role also contributes to product development and integration programs, technical reviews, proposals, and strategic investments in engineering capabilities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related STEM discipline; a master’s degree is preferred.
• 12+ years of relevant experience and progressive leadership in developmental system hardware design in defense, aerospace, or related industries.
• Experience leading mechanical engineering through the complete product development lifecycle, from requirements development through architecture, design, prototype, test, and qualification.
• Experience in ruggedized avionics hardware design, including SWaP-C optimization in military environments.
• Expertise in mechanical analysis and modeling techniques such as FEA and CFD, including validation through hand calculations and test correlation, for structural, thermal, and aerodynamic performance.
• Experience with aerospace environmental and qualification standards such as MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-1472, MIL-STD-882, MIL-STD-889, MIL-STD-130, MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-704, DO-160, or equivalent standards applicable to airborne hardware.
• Expertise with CAD, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and configuration management using a PLM.
• Experience making complex technical trades involving performance, weight, power, thermal management, reliability, producibility, cost, schedule, and maintainability.
• Strong technical communication skills with leadership, customers, and across engineering disciplines.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Security Clearance; U.S. citizenship is required.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with helmet-mounted displays, augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, or other human-worn aerospace systems.
• Experience with opto-mechanical systems, near-eye displays, head tracking, eye tracking, cameras, sensors, or precision optical alignment.
• Experience supporting flight tests, aircraft qualification, military airworthiness using MIL-HDBK-516D, or other formal certification activities.
• Experience applying Model Based Systems Engineering, Model Based Design, or other Digital Engineering methods to hardware development.
• Experience with modularity, containerization, open architectures, or similar approaches to system integration, optimization, and rapid deployment.
• Experience with composites, lightweight materials, and additive manufacturing.
• Active Secret or Top Secret DoD Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Provide functional leadership and people management for the Mechanical Engineering organization, including capability development, engineering standards, staffing strategy, technical skills development, career development, and discipline performance.
• Work with the CTO and Director of Systems Engineering to define and improve hardware engineering processes, design practices, analysis methods, and tools.
• Enable hardware development and technical execution for ruggedized avionics and aircraft-installed hardware, ensuring designs meet electrical, mechanical, environmental, thermal, vibration, EMI/EMC, and aircraft interface requirements.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Supply Chain to advance design for manufacturing, producibility, supplier readiness, and cost reduction.
• Identify hardware capability gaps and drive strategic investments in tools, processes, laboratories, analytical methods, and emerging technologies.
• Participate in architecture reviews, peer reviews, SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, flight readiness reviews, and other major program technical milestones.
• Serve as a technical leader on product development and integration programs in a Chief Engineer, IPT Lead, or SME role as applicable.
• Support bid and proposal efforts by defining solution architectures, estimating engineering labor and material costs, and contributing to technical volume writing.
• Drive adoption of advanced materials, manufacturing, and wearable system technologies.

Benefits

• Healthcare, dental, and vision insurance with 100% coverage for employees.
• Paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, paid holidays, and parental leave.
• Short- and long-term disability coverage.
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
• 401(k) retirement plan.
• Voluntary worksite benefits, including accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity coverage.
• May be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus based on individual and company performance, subject to plan terms.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director