Senior Mechanical Engineer Manager
About The Position
The Sr. Mechanical Engineering Manager is responsible for leading a team of mechanical engineers in the development, verification, and production release of quadcopter and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms. This role provides strategic, technical, and organizational leadership, ensuring the successful execution of mechanical system development from concept through production release while aligning departmental objectives with broader business goals. The Sr. Mechanical Engineering Manager works closely with Electrical, Software, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Product/Project Management, and executive leadership teams to deliver reliable, high-performance drone systems that meet customer and business objectives. The successful candidate will establish departmental priorities, develop engineering leadership talent, drive organizational and technical excellence, and ensure designs achieve the optimal balance of performance, schedule, cost, manufacturability, quality, and scalability. This individual will lead cross-functional initiatives, drive continuous improvement, and build organizational capabilities to support long-term growth.
Requirements
- BS in Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering
- 10+ years of engineering leadership experience and 12+ years of mechanical engineering experience.
- Experience with CAD and PDM packages (SolidWorks preferred) and PLM systems (Arena preferred).
- Strong technical problem-solving and organizational decision-making skills.
- Excellent verbal, written, executive-level communication, and presentation skills.
- Ability to influence technical and business decisions across cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
- Strong strategic planning, prioritization, and execution skills.
- Experience managing engineering organizations, budgets, resources, and multi-project portfolios.
- Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced product development environment while balancing short- and long-term objectives.
- Understanding of engineering verification methodologies, product qualification processes, and organizational quality systems.
- Experience leading new product introduction (NPI) efforts, manufacturing scale-up activities, and cross-functional organizational initiatives.
Nice To Haves
- UAV or aerospace industry experience.
- Working knowledge of structural analysis, vibration, fatigue, dynamics, and heat transfer.
Responsibilities
- Lead and develop a team of mechanical engineers responsible for UAV and quadcopter platform development.
- Own departmental objectives, resource planning, budgets, and organizational capability development to support product and business goals.
- Establish engineering goals, priorities, and execution strategies aligned with company objectives and long-term organizational needs.
- Guide the mechanical architecture and integration strategy across drone airframes, propulsion systems, payloads, and ground support equipment.
- Lead cross-functional initiatives with Electrical, Software, Systems, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Product teams to ensure successful product integration and delivery.
- Develop organizational roadmaps, staffing strategies, succession plans, and risk mitigation approaches to support future growth.
- Guide the decomposition of product-level requirements into mechanical subsystem requirements and verification plans while ensuring alignment across teams.
- Direct engineering trade studies to evaluate technologies, materials, manufacturing methods, supplier solutions, and strategic development opportunities.
- Ensure implementation and continuous improvement of Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), and Design for Test (DFT) best practices.
- Ensure accurate management of mechanical bills of materials (BOMs), product structures, and engineering documentation within PLM systems.
- Manage strategic relationships with external suppliers and development partners supporting mechanical subsystem development and organizational objectives.
- Drive transformational change initiatives, engineering best practices, standardization efforts, and operational excellence across the department.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
