Machina Labs
Mechanical Design Engineer, Defense Structures
TLDR
Work on the mechanical design of advanced structural defense products, integrating innovative manufacturing techniques to transform industry standards.
Key Responsibilities:
Create and modify mechanical designs for structural defense products, including missile, hypersonic, UAV, and aerospace metallic structures.
Support design-for-manufacturability reviews for customer-provided designs, models, drawings, and technical data packages.
Identify producibility issues related to forming, welding, machining, trimming, fixturing, assembly, inspection, and integration.
Develop clear manufacturability recommendations and design change requests to support customer design improvements.
Generate CAD models, layouts, detailed drawings, assemblies, bills of materials, and supporting technical documentation.
Work with internal engineering and manufacturing teams to align product designs with Machina Labs’ robotic forming and advanced manufacturing processes.
Support concept development for integrated structures, including formed panels, stiffened structures, tanks, aeroshells, frames, brackets, ducts, and other metallic components.
Translate customer requirements into practical design inputs for manufacturing development, quoting, prototyping, and production planning.
Participate in internal and external design reviews, manufacturability reviews, and technical interchange meetings.
Support rapid iteration of designs based on customer feedback, manufacturing results, inspection data, and production lessons learned.
Collaborate with manufacturing engineers, mechanical engineers, weld engineers, quality engineers, and program teams to resolve design and production issues.
Help develop standard design guidelines for manufacturable metallic structures using Machina Labs’ processes.
Required Background & Experience:
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
3+ years of experience in mechanical design, aerospace design, defense product design, or manufacturing-focused product development.
Experience using parametric CAD software to create parts, assemblies, and drawings, such as SolidWorks, Siemens NX, CATIA, Creo, Inventor, or similar tools.
Experience creating and interpreting mechanical drawings, assemblies, bills of materials, and technical documentation.
Working knowledge of design-for-manufacturability principles for metallic components and assemblies.
Ability to review customer drawings and models and identify manufacturing risks, design gaps, and producibility concerns.
Understanding of common manufacturing processes such as sheet metal forming, machining, welding, trimming, drilling, fastening, fixturing, and assembly.
Ability to break complex technical problems into clear actions and execute to schedule.
Strong attention to detail and ability to work in a fast-paced technical environment.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience supporting aerospace, defense, missile, hypersonic, UAV, aircraft, space, or high-performance structural products.
Experience designing or supporting integrated metallic structures, aeroshells, tanks, skins, frames, panels, brackets, ribs, stiffeners, or welded assemblies.
Experience working with customer technical data packages, engineering drawings, 3D models, statements of work, and manufacturing requirements.
Experience supporting design reviews, manufacturability reviews, production readiness reviews, or customer technical interchange meetings.
Strong understanding of GD&T and drawing standards, including ASME Y14.5.
Experience with model-based definition, 3D annotation, or digital manufacturing workflows.
Experience with aerospace materials, including aluminum alloys, stainless steels, titanium alloys, nickel alloys, or high-temperature materials.
Experience with forming, robotic manufacturing, incremental forming, hydroforming, stretch forming, brake forming, or other sheet metal processes.
Experience with welding, laser welding, resistance welding, brazing, bonding, or mechanical fastening of aerospace structures.
Familiarity with AS9100, defense manufacturing requirements, first article inspection, and production quality documentation.
Ability to communicate technical recommendations clearly to both internal teams and external customers.
Ability to distinguish between design features that are critical to performance and features that can be modified to improve manufacturability.
Experience working in a startup, prototype, advanced manufacturing, or rapid development environment.
U.S. defense or aerospace program experience is strongly preferred.
Ability to work in a manufacturing and shop-floor environment as needed.
Ability to use basic inspection and measurement tools, including calipers, micrometers, height gauges, and other standard shop tools.
Exposure to typical manufacturing environments, including shop noise, equipment, tools, coolants, solvents, cleaners, and standard safety requirements.
Physical effort may include standing, walking, bending, lifting, and carrying equipment up to 40 lbs.
Must be able to work onsite as required to support engineering, manufacturing, customer, and program needs.
Desired Attributes:
Strong ownership mentality and ability to drive work to completion.
Practical engineering judgment with a bias toward manufacturable solutions.
Comfortable working with ambiguity and evolving customer requirements.
High level of personal initiative and technical curiosity.
Ability to maintain composure and productivity in demanding technical situations.
Clear communicator who can turn manufacturing concerns into actionable design recommendations.
Mission-driven mindset and interest in strengthening the defense industrial base.
Maintain a high level of technical rigor, configuration discipline, and documentation quality.
*This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required for this role. Duties and responsibilities may change based on business needs.
Additional Requirements:
Machina Labs is an Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity employer and considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or status as a protected veteran in accordance with state and federal law.
We endeavor to make the job application process accessible to any and all users. If you have a disability that impacts your ability to complete the job application process and would like to request assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please contact us at (888)444-9777. This contact information is for accommodation requests only, not to inquire about the status of applications.
Machina Labs is redefining manufacturing with a platform that combines advanced robotics and machine learning, utilizing the industry's largest 6-axis robots to transform 2D metal sheets into intricate 3D parts layer-by-layer. Our technology not only enhances flexibility but also reduces costs, enabling everyone from startups to automakers to manufacture at unprecedented speeds. By moving beyond traditional production methods, we're paving the way for a future where factories are adaptable and production is truly on-demand.
Mechanical Design Engineer