Forward Deployed Mechanical Engineer

This Jobot Job is hosted by: Ashley Hunt
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Salary: $95,000 - $130,000 per year

A bit about us:

We're building AI-powered tools that help aerospace and defense engineers design, analyze, verify, and manufacture complex hardware. By combining real-world engineering expertise with modern software and AI, we're working to improve how engineering teams solve problems, make decisions, and bring products to life.

We work closely with engineers to understand their challenges and develop practical solutions that fit real-world engineering workflows.

Why join us?

Work directly with the founder: Contribute to technical and product decisions while learning from an experienced engineering leader.

Solve real engineering problems: Work with aerospace and defense professionals on challenges that matter.

Build from the ground up: Help shape an early-stage product, influence its direction, and take ownership of meaningful work.

Combine engineering and AI: Apply your mechanical engineering knowledge while exploring how software, automation, and AI can improve engineering workflows.

Make an impact: Work in a small, hands-on environment where your ideas and contributions can directly influence the product.

Work remotely: Enjoy the flexibility of a fully remote position while collaborating with a technically focused team.

Job Details

We are seeking a Forward Deployed Mechanical Engineer to serve as the founding mechanical engineer, working directly with the founder and collaborating closely with the software team.

This role is ideal for an engineer who enjoys solving difficult aerospace and defense hardware problems and is equally interested in improving the tools and processes used to solve them.

You will split your time between hands-on mechanical engineering for customer programs and helping develop a software platform that automates engineering workflows. You will work with real hardware problems, turn complex engineering inputs into clear conclusions, and help translate repeatable processes into software capabilities.

Initially, you will work side by side with the founder on customer programs. As you ramp up, you will take increasing ownership of customer relationships, technical deliverables, project scope, and engineering execution.

This is an opportunity to combine hands-on engineering, software-enabled problem-solving, customer engagement, and early-stage company building in one role.

Key Responsibilities
Mechanical Engineering and Technical Analysis
Solve challenging mechanical engineering problems across aerospace and defense hardware, including structures, dynamics, loads, and mechanisms.
Develop and evaluate load cases and perform structural analysis on flight hardware.
Create, process, and interpret finite element models (FEM) to evaluate hardware performance and support engineering decisions.
Establish and assess engineering margins and apply sound engineering judgment to technical policies and assumptions.
Identify, investigate, and resolve critical engineering issues that may be blocking customer hardware development.
Contribute to design reviews, engineering trade studies, and test planning for structures and mechanisms.
Apply first-principles reasoning to evaluate technical problems, validate results, and develop practical solutions.
Engineering Workflow Automation and Product Development
Gather and interpret engineering information from varied sources, including CAD models, FEM results, test data, spreadsheets, technical discussions, and other project documentation.
Convert complex or fragmented engineering inputs into clear, defensible technical conclusions.
Develop scripts and agent-based workflows to automate engineering checks and repetitive analysis tasks.
Work directly with the software team to translate proven engineering workflows into platform features.
Test and validate automated workflows against real engineering problems and customer requirements.
Provide practical feedback on product capabilities, limitations, and opportunities for further automation.
Help define how the software platform evolves based on the engineering problems encountered in customer engagements.

Customer Engagement and Technical Ownership
Work directly with the founder and customer engineering teams to understand technical challenges, requirements, and project priorities.
Participate in customer calls, technical discussions, and engineering reviews.
Develop clear technical deliverables that communicate findings, assumptions, and recommendations.
Take increasing responsibility for customer accounts, project scope, and engineering deliverables as you ramp up.
Manage competing priorities, work through incomplete information, and maintain forward progress in a fast-moving environment.

Founding Team Contribution
Help establish the company's mechanical engineering processes and technical workflows.
Collaborate across mechanical engineering, software development, and customer-facing activities.
Identify opportunities to improve engineering efficiency through automation and new technology.
Contribute to the development of a scalable engineering approach as the customer base and software platform grow.

Required Qualifications - Must-Haves

Education and engineering experience: A master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related field; new graduates with a master's degree are welcome. Alternatively, a bachelor's degree in a relevant engineering discipline with a few years of experience in a demanding hardware engineering environment.

Strong engineering fundamentals: Demonstrated understanding of structures, dynamics, and first-principles problem-solving.

Practical FEA experience: Hands-on experience creating, processing, interpreting, or validating finite element analyses using tools such as ANSYS, Abaqus, Siemens NX/Simcenter, Femap, or comparable software.

Hands-on hardware experience: Experience building, developing, testing, or analyzing physical hardware through professional work, research, a laboratory environment, or a technical competition team.

Software-enabled engineering workflows: Regular use of software-driven approaches in engineering work, such as scripting, automation, or integrating engineering tools with other software.

Understanding of engineering tool integrations: Familiarity with how mechanical engineering software tools expose or interact with APIs.

Initiative and comfort with ambiguity: Ability to take incomplete direction, identify next steps, make sound decisions, and drive technical problems toward resolution without waiting for every detail to be defined.

Goal-oriented execution: Focus on engineering outcomes rather than simply completing assigned tasks, with the ability to adapt as priorities change.

Preferred Qualifications - Nice-to-Haves

Internship or professional experience in the aerospace or defense industry.
Experience with flight hardware or other demanding mechanical engineering applications.
Participation in a hands-on engineering competition or project team, such as rocketry, CubeSat development, or Formula SAE.
Experience with Python, TypeScript, Docker, or comparable tools used for scripting, automation, software development, or deployment.
Experience developing AI-assisted workflows or working with AI agents in engineering or technical applications.
Familiarity with engineering automation, computational workflows, or integrating analysis tools into repeatable processes.
Experience working directly with customers or cross-functional technical teams to solve complex engineering problems.

Location and Work Arrangement

This is a full-time, hybrid position based in the Long Beach / Los Angeles area.
The role combines remote work with regular in-person collaboration with the founder and onsite engagement at customer facilities, primarily in California. Candidates should be comfortable traveling to customer sites as needed to support engineering programs and technical collaboration.
During the first 30 days, you will participate in daily syncs with the founder to accelerate onboarding, build technical alignment, and establish a strong working relationship. These meetings will taper to weekly as you become more independent and take on greater ownership.

Compensation

Base salary: $95,000-$130,000, depending on degree and experience.

Equity: Available as part of the compensation package.

The opportunity offers direct exposure to real aerospace engineering challenges, close collaboration with an experienced founder, and the chance to help build both a founding engineering function and a software platform designed to transform hardware development.

Interested in hearing more? Easy Apply now by clicking the "Apply Now" button.

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