Staff Mechanical Engineer

Red Cell Partners • Los Angeles, CA

1d • $145,000 - $170,000

About The Position

Dash 2 Dynamics (D2), an advanced communications company incubated by Red Cell Partners, is seeking a practical, inventive Staff Mechanical Engineer to serve as the senior mechanical technical owner for plasma-enabled antenna and advanced communications hardware. The engineer will shape mechanical architecture, lead critical design trades, and guide antenna assemblies, plasma devices, electronics housings, installation and platform-integration fixtures, thermal interfaces, and test hardware from early concepts through qualification-ready designs. The role also helps raise engineering rigor across the team.

This is a hands-on role on a multidisciplinary team working across electromagnetics, materials, electronics, plasma science, and mission-focused product development. The systems are intended to enable smaller, more wideband, and more resilient communications in demanding and contested RF environments, serving defense, aerospace, and commercial users.

The position spans mechanical architecture and technical leadership, detailed design, thermal and structural engineering, prototyping, testing and qualification, and manufacturing and supplier execution. The engineer will establish design and documentation standards, mentor engineers, develop and maintain controlled design documentation, perform or direct analyses, drive hardware iterations and qualification activities, and work with manufacturing and specialty suppliers.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Engineering, or a related field.
• At least 7 years of relevant mechanical product-development experience, including technical ownership of complex electromechanical hardware through design, build, integration, and test.
• Advanced proficiency with a modern 3D CAD platform, production drawings, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
• Strong command of thermal management, structural mechanics, materials selection, and manufacturing processes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead design reviews, mentor engineers, communicate technical risk, and make sound decisions with incomplete information.
• Hands-on experience with experimental hardware and disciplined technical documentation.
• Ability to meet requirements associated with work on U.S. government and national-security programs.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with antenna systems, RF electronics packaging, aerospace hardware, high-voltage equipment, vacuum systems, or plasma devices.
• Experience with ceramics, metal-ceramic interfaces, brazing, adhesives, seals, coatings, or high-temperature assemblies.
• Proficiency with finite-element thermal or structural analysis and model-to-test correlation.
• Experience supporting environmental qualification, including shock, vibration, temperature, ingress, or related testing.
• Experience in an early-stage company, rapid-prototyping organization, defense program, or SBIR/STTR environment.
• Active U.S. security clearance or eligibility to obtain one.

Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical architecture for advanced antenna, plasma-device, electronics, and communications-system hardware.
• Lead mechanical design reviews, establish analysis and documentation standards, and guide decisions involving performance, risk, cost, schedule, and manufacturability.
• Define modular product architectures that can develop from laboratory prototypes into fieldable systems and future product variants.
• Mentor engineers and provide technical guidance across multidisciplinary programs.
• Create and maintain CAD models, production drawings, GD&T schemes, tolerance analyses, bills of material, and configuration-controlled design documentation.
• Perform or direct thermal and structural analyses for electronics, antenna assemblies, plasma devices, and environmental loads.
• Select materials and joining methods for high voltage, RF exposure, thermal cycling, vacuum or controlled environments, and rugged use.
• Engineer interfaces involving ceramics, metals, seals, brazed or bonded joints, precision alignment, thermal expansion, shock, vibration, and fatigue.
• Drive hardware iteration from concept through prototype, integration, environmental testing, qualification, and design release.
• Design fixtures and test articles, and support instrumentation, assembly, troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and corrective action.
• Define test procedures and acceptance criteria to address key mechanical risks and produce defensible design evidence.
• Correlate thermal and structural predictions with measured hardware behavior and incorporate lessons into subsequent designs.
• Apply DFM and DFA principles while preserving RF, plasma, thermal, structural, and serviceability requirements.
• Lead technical engagement with machine shops, specialty joining and brazing vendors, additive manufacturers, and contract manufacturing partners.
• Review quotes, supplier capabilities, first articles, inspection results, nonconformances, and corrective actions.
• Establish repeatable assembly, inspection, quality, and configuration-management processes.

Benefits

• Career-track opportunity with potential for rapid advancement with strong performance as the firm grows.
• 100% employer-paid comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for the employee and family.
• 14 weeks of paid maternity and paternity leave at normal pay.
• Unlimited PTO, with management approval.
• Opportunities for professional development and continued learning.
• Optional 401(k), FSA, and equity incentives.
• Mental health benefits through Tara Mind.
• Cost-effective GLP-1 solutions through Crux.

What This Job Offers

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