Senior Mechanical Engineer, Interceptor

GITAI • Los Angeles, CA

5d • $155,000 - $200,000 • Onsite

About The Position

GITAI is a space robotics company focused on reducing the cost of work in space. They develop robotic systems for orbital, lunar, and defense applications, designed for tasks like assembly, inspection, maintenance, construction, and surface operations in environments where human labor is challenging. GITAI emphasizes keeping hardware, software, testing, and integration close together to accelerate learning and shorten development cycles. The company is in its early stages, with systems, the company, and the market all being developed concurrently. This role is for an individual who is motivated by difficult, hands-on work and wants to contribute directly to moving the company forward.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.
• At least five years of professional experience in rocketry, missiles, launch vehicles, propulsion, or a closely related aerospace field.
• Demonstrated ownership of rocket or missile hardware from design through manufacturing, assembly, and test.
• Strong mechanical design capability, including 3D CAD, production drawings, GD&T, tolerance analysis, material selection, fastening methods, and design for manufacturing and assembly.
• Strong practical understanding of structural mechanics, load paths, vibration, shock, thermal effects, and the calculations required to support and review mechanical designs.
• Experience leading complex hardware development or serving as a technical lead, including reviewing designs and guiding less-experienced engineers.
• Experience working directly with machinists, technicians, fabrication suppliers, and test teams to solve real hardware problems.
• Ability to investigate failures, make sound decisions with incomplete data, and rapidly convert findings into improved hardware.
• Working knowledge of rocket or missile propulsion systems and the mechanical, thermal, and operational constraints they impose on the vehicle.
• Ability to remain effective as priorities, requirements, and schedules change quickly.
• Willingness and ability to spend approximately 50% of your time at remote test sites under demanding field conditions.
• U.S. citizenship is required due to the nature of GITAI’s work with U.S. government customers and programs.
• This role may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S.
• This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

• To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), GITAI Employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable.

Responsibilities

• Lead the mechanical development of interceptor hardware from early architecture through prototype manufacturing, integration, field testing, and redesign.
• Own complex mechanical systems across vehicle structures, propulsion interfaces, avionics packaging, internal mechanisms, test hardware, and ground-support equipment.
• Make critical design decisions, resolve cross-functional problems, and help the broader engineering team move faster through strong technical judgment and direct hands-on execution.
• Provide technical direction and review the work of other engineers, raise the quality of mechanical design, and step into difficult hardware problems when the team is blocked.
• Perform and review calculations needed to support sound decisions, ensuring designs are manufacturable, assemble correctly, survive their expected environment, and are ready for the next test.
• Own the mechanical architecture and detailed design of interceptor hardware, including primary and secondary structures, motor mounts and interfaces, avionics packaging, internal mechanisms, enclosures, test fixtures, and ground-support equipment.
• Translate incomplete system requirements, expected loads, environmental conditions, packaging constraints, and subsystem interfaces into practical mechanical designs and clear technical decisions.
• Lead hardware through the full development cycle, including CAD, drawings, design reviews, supplier coordination, fabrication, inspection, assembly, integration, testing, failure investigation, and redesign.
• Provide technical direction and design review to junior and mid-level engineers, improving design quality, manufacturability, documentation, and engineering judgment across the team.
• Work directly with machinists, technicians, suppliers, and engineers to resolve difficult manufacturing, assembly, and integration issues without relying on organizational handoffs.
• Plan and execute structural, environmental, propulsion-related, and vehicle-level tests, including test readiness, field operations, inspection, troubleshooting, repair, and rapid preparation for follow-on testing.
• Lead failure investigations, identify root causes, and drive corrective actions through analysis, physical evidence, design changes, and validation testing.
• Make and communicate clear tradeoffs among mass, strength, stiffness, reliability, manufacturability, cost, schedule, and test risk.
• Establish lightweight technical standards and working methods that improve execution without slowing the pace of development.
• Adapt quickly as program priorities, designs, schedules, suppliers, and test plans change in an early-stage startup environment.

Benefits

• Health Insurance – Platinum medical plan with 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees; 90% for dependents
• 401(k) Plan – Company match up to 3.5%, with traditional and Roth options
• Equity – Stock option eligibility depending on role
• Relocation Support – Available for qualifying positions
• Time Off – 12 paid holidays per year, 12 days of paid vacation per year, and paid sick leave (in accordance with applicable law)
• Office Perks – Free snacks and drinks, plus regular team events

What This Job Offers

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