Sr. Mechanical Engineer

HEICO Corporation•Santa Barbara, CA

1d•$145,000 - $195,000•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer to own the architecture and guide the development of precision mechanical systems for IR test equipment. In this role, you’ll define mechanical design approaches, create and refine complex assemblies, and ensure system-level integration in collaboration with cross-disciplinary teams. You will serve as a technical leader to junior engineers, providing design guidance, reviews, and best practices, while remaining hands-on in CAD, analysis, and prototyping. Your expertise will directly shape the performance and reliability of next-generation optical test systems used by global aerospace and defense leaders. This is a hands-on, on-site role based in Santa Barbara, CA.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
10+ years of related experience.
Expert with CAD tools (SolidWorks preferred) including revision control (PDM/PLM), and GD&T (ASME Y14.5) including tolerance stack-ups.
Experience with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for static analysis.
Background in optical systems (including alignment and precision adjustment mechanisms), vacuum hardware design, electro-mechanical system design, and/or power electronics packaging.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Optical Engineering, or Aerospace Engineering.
Experience with FEA/CFD simulation tools (ANSYS, SolidWorks Simulation, COMSOL) for thermal/structural/frequency analysis.
Familiarity with regulatory and qualification testing (e.g., vibration, thermal cycling, shock, EMI/EMC, or MIL-STD/DO-160 standards)
Experience with Zemax or other optical design/tolerance analysis tools.
Background in vacuum hardware design, sealing, and hermetic packaging.

Responsibilities

Own architecture and complete lifecycle of E-O/IR systems, ensuring that mechanical designs meet all performance, environmental, and compliance requirements, driving traceability from concept through delivery.
Contribute to the ME team’s budgetary and schedule estimations, and rapidly identify corrective paths to keep projects on track.
Identify technical, schedule, and manufacturing risks early, and drive mitigations to maintain program success.
Partner with project managers, system engineers, vendors, and production staff to support manufacturing and rapidly implement performance, reliability, and quality improvements.
Drive semiconductor integration and hardware design for IR scene projection products and programs.
Drive ECO’s to create and maintain detailed design documentation, including fabrication/assembly drawings, BOMs, and Interface Control Documents (ICDs).