Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, Ground Systems

Mach Industries•Huntington Beach, CA

10h•$140,000 - $180,000

About The Position

Mach Industries is seeking a Senior Ground Systems Mechanical Engineer to design, develop, and deploy ground systems that enable the safe, reliable, and efficient transportation, handling, storage, launch, and operation of next-generation defense platforms. This hands-on role involves designing and iterating ground support equipment (GSE), launch and deployment systems, electromechanical interfaces, and supporting infrastructure while optimizing for manufacturability, reliability, safety, cost, and performance. The engineer will work with multidisciplinary engineering, manufacturing, test, and operations teams to develop requirements and conduct design, analysis, and testing cycles leading to prototype and flight hardware. The role owns engineering deliverables—including CAD models, drawings, and analytical and test verification—and contributes throughout the hardware development lifecycle. It suits an engineer who enjoys practical mechanical challenges, working directly with hardware, and rapidly developing robust systems for real-world operations. Mach Industries is a defense technology company founded in 2023, focused on next-generation autonomous defense platforms and scalable, decentralized defense systems. The company has approximately 350 employees.

Requirements

At least 4 years of mechanical engineering experience focused on designing, prototyping, and integrating mechanical systems; experience may be professional, hobby, or academic.
Strong 3D modeling skills using CAD tools such as NX or SolidWorks, including GD&T per ASME Y14.5.
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
Demonstrated contribution to end-to-end, hands-on hardware development from concept through fabrication, assembly, and testing.
Ability to translate operational needs and system-level requirements into practical mechanical designs, engineering analyses, and testable hardware.
Must meet the stated U.S. citizenship, nationality, permanent-resident, refugee, asylee, or export-authorization eligibility requirements for access to export-controlled information.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing ground support equipment, launch equipment, transport fixtures, storage containers, lifting and handling devices, or other industrial or aerospace support systems.
Experience performing first-order structural calculations or using FEA tools to evaluate load-bearing components, frames, fixtures, and support structures.
Experience designing mechanical interfaces between flight hardware and ground equipment, including alignment, mounting, access, servicing, and integration requirements.
Experience with manufacturing processes, fabrication drawings, tolerance stack-ups, welding, machining, sheet metal, or structural assemblies.
Familiarity with environmental considerations such as vibration, shock, temperature extremes, corrosion, dust, moisture, and repeated transport or deployment.
Familiarity with relevant industry standards and safety practices for lifting equipment, pressure systems, launch infrastructure, and industrial machinery, as applicable.
Experience with scripting or programming tools such as Python or MATLAB for engineering calculations, data analysis, and test support.

Responsibilities

Own mechanical design and development of ground systems, including ground support equipment, launch and deployment systems, transport fixtures, storage solutions, lifting and handling equipment, and supporting infrastructure.
Create and maintain 3D CAD models, engineering drawings, bills of materials, and technical documentation for fabrication, assembly, inspection, maintenance, and field deployment.
Perform first-order engineering calculations to size structures, mechanisms, lifting and restraint features, and other load-bearing components, accounting for static and dynamic loads, vibration, shock, environmental exposure, and applicable safety factors.
Collaborate with manufacturing, test, vehicle engineering, propulsion, avionics, and operations teams to define interfaces, convert operational needs into engineering requirements, and resolve integration challenges.
Support fabrication, assembly, installation, commissioning, and hands-on testing of ground systems, incorporating lessons learned from development campaigns and field operations.
Author engineering analyses, test plans, operating procedures, maintenance documentation, and technical milestones to support safe and repeatable ground operations.
Support critical development and test milestones, including occasional extended hours and weekends as needed.