Principal Mechanical Engineer

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with omniscient systems purpose-built for today’s realities. Designed and built by top U.S. military veterans and Silicon Valley innovators, CHAOS Industries’ 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. In a world where technological threats move at unprecedented speed, CHAOS Industries delivers advanced sensing and detection solutions that give the ultimate advantage: time.   

Role Overview:

CHAOS is seeking a Principal Mechanical Engineer to serve as a technical authority for the hands-on design, development, packaging, integration, and qualification of ruggedized sensor systems, avionics, electronic hardware, and related mission-critical systems for dual-use aerospace and defense applications. This role establishes mechanical direction across programs, resolves complex design and integration challenges, and promotes technical excellence from concept development and architecture through detailed design, analysis, prototyping, qualification, production, fielding, and sustainment.

The ideal candidate brings deep hands-on mechanical design and CAD expertise, strong experience with complex assemblies, packaging, and integrated systems, demonstrated prototyping and analysis skills, and the ability to provide mechanical leadership within cross-disciplinary teams spanning mechanical, electrical, RF, power, manufacturing, and systems engineering.

This is a full-time, on-site position in El Segundo, CA.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, development, packaging, and mechanical integration of ruggedized electronic hardware, sensor systems, avionics, structures, mechanisms, and related support equipment
• Serve as the final mechanical technical authority for major programs for products
• Define and review mechanical architectures, interfaces, and design approaches to support cross-disciplinary system integration
• Provide resolution to the organization’s high-risk or ambiguous mechanical problems
• Create, review, and maintain CAD models, complex assemblies, drawings, installation documentation, and ICDs
• Perform or guide structural and thermal analyses and design verification activities to support design decisions and verify compliance with environmental and performance requirements
• Work directly with engineering, manufacturing, customers, suppliers, and platform providers to resolve cross-disciplinary technical challenges
• Evaluate make/buy options and make associated technical recommendations in collaboration with manufacturing partners
• Support production transition, configuration control, and fielded system sustainment, including investigation and resolution of integration issues
• Provide technical and career mentoring to less-experienced engineers and designers and promote engineering methods, processes, and best practices
• Establish engineering process/methods/standards/best practices

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline
• 12+ years of progressively responsible experience in mechanical design and integration of electronic hardware for aerospace, defense, or similar applications
• Expert proficiency with mechanical CAD tools (e.g., SolidWorks or equivalent) and experience producing production-ready drawings
• Strong understanding of mechanical interfaces, tolerancing, alignment, installation practices, and interface control documents (ICDs)
• Familiarity with military and aerospace connectors (e.g., MIL-DTL-38999, ARINC, Micro-D)
• Strong understanding of mechanical drafting standards, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and configuration-controlled documentation
• Demonstrated experience with ruggedized hardware and environmental qualification considerations
• Experience interpreting and applying applicable military and aerospace standards, including MIL-STD-810 and related qualification requirements
• Proven ability to lead technical decisions and resolve complex, cross-disciplinary integration challenges
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to operate effectively 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 with system-level requirements allocation and architecture trade studies
• Experience supporting environmental qualification testing and analysis (thermal cycling, vibration, shock)
• Experience with mechanisms, actuation systems, structures, thermal management, packaging, cable routing, connector layouts, or electromechanical integration
• Experience with prototyping, additive manufacturing, CNC machining, fabrication, assembly, and production transition
• Experience with commercial FEA or multiphysics simulation tools, such as NASTRAN, ABAQUS, ANSYS, COMSOL, or similar tools
• Familiarity with military and aerospace standards and specifications

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: 3 00 employees and counting across 5 global offices

$233k-292k

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.

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