Lead, Electromechanical Actuation System Design Engineer

L3Harris•Sacramento, CA

About The Position

L3Harris Technologies is seeking a Lead, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering professional to support the design, development, integration, and qualification of advanced electromechanical actuation systems for aerospace and defense applications. The role leads mission-critical actuation hardware across the full product lifecycle, from requirements analysis and architecture development through detailed design, integration, verification, qualification, and production support. The position is based in Canoga Park, California (preferred), Sacramento, California, or Huntsville, Alabama, and follows a 9/80 schedule: employees work nine days in each 14-day period, totaling 80 hours, with every other Friday off. The ideal candidate has strong electromechanical system design experience, including motors, gearing, screw-driven mechanisms, structural load paths, packaging, sensing, and environmental design, as well as a solid foundation in dynamic performance assessment and control theory for closed-loop system integration. The position includes technical leadership, cross-functional collaboration, support of hardware from prototype through production, and contribution to engineering standards and continuous improvement. The candidate must be able to obtain a U.S. Secret security clearance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and at least 9 years of relevant mechanical engineering experience, or a graduate degree and at least 7 years of related experience; in lieu of a degree, at least 13 years of related experience.
Ability to obtain a U.S. Secret security clearance.
Strong experience in electromechanical system design, including motors, gearing, screw-driven mechanisms, structural load paths, packaging, sensing, and environmental design.
Foundation in dynamic performance assessment and control theory to support closed-loop system integration.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline; a master’s degree is preferred.
Experience designing and developing electromechanical actuation systems, servo-mechanical systems, precision mechanisms, or related aerospace or mechanical hardware.
Machine-design background, including gears, bearings, shafts, fasteners, fits, lubrication methods, and power-transmission components.
Experience with system-sizing and performance calculations, including torque, speed, inertia, reflected load, efficiency, duty cycle, life, and load-case development.
Experience evaluating dynamic mechanical performance, including stiffness, resonance, backlash, vibration sensitivity, and positional behavior.
Working knowledge of control theory fundamentals and electromechanical system interactions with closed-loop control systems.
Proficiency with 3D CAD modeling and engineering drawing generation.
Working knowledge of GD&T, tolerance stack-up analysis, and manufacturing and producibility considerations.
Experience supporting hardware through prototype fabrication, integration, testing, and design maturation.
Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills and ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
Direct experience designing high-reliability electromechanical actuation systems for aerospace or defense applications.
Experience with flight-critical, mission-critical, or safety-critical hardware.
Familiarity with aerospace and defense development environments and standards.
Experience with FEA and analytical methods for structural, thermal, and dynamic system evaluation.
Knowledge of servo systems, motor/drive integration, feedback sensors, and closed-loop electromechanical positioning systems.
Experience supporting environmental testing, qualification testing, and failure analysis.
Experience transitioning hardware from development into low-rate or full-rate production.
Demonstrated technical leadership on complex mechanical or electromechanical development efforts.
Active U.S. Secret security clearance or higher.

Responsibilities

Lead the design and development of electromechanical actuation systems for aerospace and defense platforms.
Translate customer, system, and subsystem requirements into actuation system architectures, detailed designs, and producible hardware solutions.
Develop concepts, conduct trade studies, and perform system-sizing analyses considering torque, speed, load, duty cycle, reflected inertia, efficiency, mass properties, packaging, reliability, producibility, and cost.
Develop and integrate electromechanical actuation system elements and architectures for linear-motion applications, including mechanism selection, packaging, interface definition, and load-transfer strategies.
Assess dynamic performance, including response time, bandwidth, damping, stiffness, resonance, overshoot, settling time, backlash, positional accuracy, disturbance response, and stability-related mechanical effects.
Apply control theory fundamentals to support closed-loop integration, considering feedback behavior, controllability, stability margins, and interactions among the actuator, mechanism, drive electronics, sensors, and controlled plant.
Support motor, transmission, and mechanism sizing by evaluating mission profiles, transient events, startup conditions, shock loads, duty cycles, thermal limits, and operating scenarios.
Perform or guide engineering analyses.
Develop 3D CAD models, detailed drawings, and complete engineering definition packages.
Support hardware procurement, prototype builds, system integration, troubleshooting, and design maturation.
Lead or support verification and qualification testing, failure investigations, and root-cause and corrective-action efforts.
Collaborate with systems, electrical, controls, software, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and test engineering teams to support design execution and production transition.
Lead or support technical, peer, and design reviews; customer presentations; proposal efforts; and risk assessments.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers and contribute to engineering best practices, standard work, and continuous improvement.
Support production and fielded hardware through nonconformance review, supplier technical coordination, and issue resolution.
Ensure designs comply with applicable customer, program, company, aerospace, and defense standards and processes.