Principal Mechanical Engineer

Principal Mechanical Engineer

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London.

Role Overview:

CHAOS is seeking an experienced Principal Mechanical Engineer to lead the design, development, and integration of advanced missile and UAV launcher systems. This role owns end-to-end mechanical design from concept development through production and sustainment, of launcher systems supporting solid rocket motor effectors, turbine-powered UAVs, and electrically powered UAV systems across mobile ground and maritime platforms. This role collaborates closely across functions and provides technical management of subcontracts.

This role is suited for engineers who thrive in fast-paced, hands-on environments and are comfortable owning hardware from concept through field deployment.

The ideal candidate has strong hands-on mechanical CAD and system integration experience, demonstrated launcher design and integration success, a deep understanding of ruggedized hardware design, and a proven ability to work independently and guide cross-disciplinary engineering efforts.

This is a full-time, on-site position in Hawthorne, CA. Level (Principal vs Sr Principal) will be determined based on relevant technical and leadership experience.

Responsibilities:

• Own mechanical architecture and integration of launcher systems across multiple platforms (ground and maritime)
• Define and manage mechanical and electro-mechanical interfaces between missile, canister, and platform
• Develop solutions for environmental protection and blast, plume, and thermal effects including gas management, shielding, and structural protection
• Ensure compliance with safety interlock requirements and launch sequencing constraints.
• Design mechanical safing features and contribute to system-level hazard analyses.
• Design and develop mechanisms and actuation systems for deployment, retention, and release
• Ensure compliance with relevant military standards
• Serve as a primary technical hardware interface with customers, platform providers, suppliers, and manufacturing partners. Perform make/buy assessments
• Lead integration of launcher systems onto mobile ground and maritime platforms, accounting for structural loads, motion environments, corrosion, and installation constraints
• Support production transition, configuration control, and fielded system sustainment, including investigation and resolution of integration issues

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in mechanical design and system integration for aerospace or defense
• Demonstrated experience designing missile launcher systems or closely related hardware
• Strong background in structural design, mechanisms, and ruggedized hardware for harsh environments
• Experience with electro-mechanical integration, including power and data interfaces and connector systems
• Working knowledge of blast, thermal, and dynamic loads associated with rocket or missile systems
• Familiarity with system safety principles, including safe-and-arm or fuzing interfaces and launch interlocks
• Strong proficiency with CAD tools (e.g., SolidWorks or equivalent) and experience designing large assemblies
• Solid understanding of mechanical interfaces, tolerancing, alignment, installation practices, and interface control documents (ICDs)
• Experience interpreting and applying military standards (e.g., MIL-STD-810) and environmental qualification practices
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical decisions and resolve cross-disciplinary integration challenges
• Strong communication skills and ability to operate across multiple programs
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

Preferred Requirements:

• Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field
• Prior experience serving as a mechanical technical authority on a program
• Experience planning, instrumenting, and executing hardware tests
• Experience with designing and integrating mechanisms and actuation systems
• Experience with system-level requirements allocation
• Familiarity with vehicle integration constraints, including shock, vibration, transport, and operational loads
• Experience with at least one commercial FEA or multiphysics simulation package (NASTRAN, ABAQUS, ANSYS, CFD codes, COMSOL, etc.)
• Knowledge of manufacturing and assembly processes for mobile or deployable mechanical structures and mechanisms
• Experience with prototyping, additive manufacturing, CNC machining, and other fabrication techniques
• Familiarity with military-style connectors (e.g., mil-circular 38999, ARINC, micro-D)

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, 'No meeting Fridays', unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 250 employees and counting across 5 global offices

$160k-260k

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.