Sr. Mechanical Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

We're ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.

As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.

When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you'll collaborate on some of the world's toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.

The Sr. Mechanical Engineer applies engineering techniques to design, fabricate, analyze, and test composite structures and mechanically functioning equipment for high-altitude aerospace applications. Leads and supports the mechanical design, testing, and production of composite airframe structures, housings, and enclosures for unmanned aerospace systems. Manages mid-size development projects outsourced to sub-contractors (development of a system, equipment or components).

Position Responsibilities

• Leads or supports structural, dynamic, and thermal analysis for composite structures and electronics enclosures
• Leads the design and development of composite components from concept through production, including layup schedules, tooling design, and manufacturing process definition
• Develops composite structural designs using fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP, GFRP) and hybrid material systems
• Performs stress and fatigue analysis specific to composite materials and bonded joints
• Develops mechanical drawings and specifies dimensional tolerances with an emphasis on composite fabrication and assembly
• Develops assembly instructions, layup procedures, cure cycle documentation, and test procedures
• Develops test plans and test procedures to verify structural designs against environmental and load requirements
• Works on complex issues where analysis of situations or data requires in-depth knowledge of composite behavior and failure mechanisms
• Executes team assignments effectively following the given schedule, milestone, and available resources. May coordinate activities of other engineering and manufacturing personnel (Team Lead)
• Other duties as assigned

Basic Qualifications (Required Skills & Experience)

• Minimum 8 – 12 years of relevant technical experience in Mechanical Engineering, of which a minimum of 5 years focused on composite structure design and production for aerospace applications
• Experienced in developing requirements specifications for structural subsystems in accordance with MIL-STD-961D or equivalent
• Has sufficient proficiency with the following CAD/CAE tools to perform one's position responsibilities:
  • SolidWorks for mechanical and tooling modeling
  • ANSYS for structural and fatigue analysis of composite assemblies
• Extensive experience with composite manufacturing methodologies including wet layup, prepreg, autoclave, and out-of-autoclave processes
• Experienced with composite bonding and joining techniques including co-cure, co-bond, and secondary bonding using aerospace-grade adhesives
• Experienced with composite tooling design including matched-die, mandrel, and caul plate tooling
• Experienced with creating and maintaining product document trees and bills of materials (BOM)
• Experienced with test and measurement techniques for structural verification including DIC, strain gauging, and load frame testing

Other Qualifications & Desired Competencies

• MS degree in Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering is preferred
• Familiarity with MIL-STD-810 or DO-160 environmental qualification testing
• Familiarity with composite-specific standards and process specifications (e.g., ASTM D3039, D3410, Nadcap composite processing)
• Experience with repair and inspection methods for composite structures (NDI, ultrasonic, visual)
• Demonstrates full understanding of composite mechanics, classical laminate theory, and failure criteria (Tsai-Wu, Max Strain)
• Demonstrates full understanding & knowledge of engineering principles in the technical discipline and successfully works independently
• Effectively articulates concepts and ideas to both technical and non-technical staff
• Able to excel in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment, where small teams share a broad variety of duties
• Displays strong initiative and drive to accomplish goals and meet company objectives
• Takes ownership and responsibility for current and past work products
• Is committed to learning from mistakes and driven to improve and enhance performance of oneself, others, and the company
• Has effective problem-solving, analytical, interpersonal and communication skills (verbal and written)
• Focuses on teamwork, collaboration and puts the success of the team above one's own interest

Salary Range: $125,000-140,000

The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate's combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience.

Note: Due to the nature of the work, only US Persons (citizens or permanent residents) need apply for this position.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy.

Please beware of job seeker scams and see this important notice on our careers page for more information about our recruiting process.

Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.