Mechanical Test Engineer

About the role

• Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) to meet customer and regulatory requirements

A couple other things

• We offer a lot of autonomy
• We like to run lean for impact
• We have great benefits
• We are well funded, and already generating revenue
• We are located in beautiful Hawthorne, CA and just moved into a new large hangar facility

What you'll do

This role focuses on the mechanical and environmental side of qualification: vibration, shock, thermal, humidity, altitude, and life/durability testing, including the design of test fixtures and instrumentation. The role includes witnessing tests at customer and partner sites, both domestically and abroad.

• Plan, write, and execute mechanical qualification and acceptance test procedures for actuators and integrated LRUs.
• Develop test plans and reports to DO-160G and MIL-STD-810H, including vibration, shock, thermal, humidity, and altitude testing to support qualification as well as unit acceptance testing.
• Design and build mechanical test fixtures, load setups, instrumentation, and data acquisition configurations.
• Plan and execute load, life and durability, and environmental testing to validate cycle reliability requirements.
• Manage testing at outsourced labs and witness tests at customer and partner facilities, domestically and internationally.
• Coordinate test schedules, witness points, and acceptance criteria with customers and labs.
• Analyze test data, identify mechanical failure modes, and drive root-cause/corrective action with design engineering.
• Support development of an in-house qualification test lab as capability matures.

What you need

• B.S. in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering discipline.
• 2+ years of qualification or environmental test experience on aerospace, defense, or comparable hardware.
• Hands-on experience executing DO-160 and/or MIL-STD-810 mechanical and environmental test campaigns.
• Proficiency with mechanical test instrumentation, load cells, accelerometers, data acquisition systems, and data analysis.
• Experience designing test fixtures and mechanical instrumentation setups.
• Strong technical writing for test plans and reports.
• U.S. Person status required per ITAR and ability to travel internationally (valid passport required).

Nice to have

• Experience with electromechanical actuators, motors, gear trains, or precision mechanisms.
• Thermal, vibration and shock test familiarity (fixture design, modal considerations, test tailoring).
• Exposure to commercial/defense certification environments.
• Experience managing third-party test labs and witnessing customer acceptance testing.

What we have to offer

• We are not just building components.
• We are reshaping the future of the Aerospace and Defense component industry, which is a $300B+ market!
• Come join us and help build next generation systems that will make a massive impact at global scale.

• Competitive compensation: $110,000 to $130,000 base salary + equity
• Exceptional healthcare benefits - Medical is 100% covered by the company
• Life Insurance (2x Salary) 100% covered by the company
• Flexible PTO, 401K, Financial Wellness Resources, and more