Mechanical Engineer

You will be joining the team building our payloadplatform, andwill own the mechanical design and analysis of the airborne payload and its integration with the host aircraft. You will be responsible forstructural integrity, mass and centre of gravity efficiency, manufacturability, and field reliability of the platform across its operating envelope.

The role involves working across the full development lifecycle, from concept trade studies and mechanical analysis through manufacturing support, assembly, and flight-readiness testing. This is a hands-on role suited to an engineer who is comfortable taking a design from CAD to hardware, and who wants to see their work fly.

Responsibilities :

• Own the mechanical design and analysis of the payload platform, including primary and secondary structures, enclosures, mounts, and mechanisms.

• Design the payload to airframe interface, covering mounting strategy, load paths, vibration isolation, and quick-release or field-serviceable features where required.

• Drive mass and centre of gravity optimisationagainst endurance and flight performance targets, andmaintain the mass budget for the platform.

• Assess thermal paths and airflowfor airborne electronics, and support heatsink, enclosure venting, and sealing decisions.

• Perform material and process selectionbased on stiffness-to-weight, strength, environmental durability, and ingress protection requirements.

• Apply DFM/DFA principlesto ensure designs are manufacturable and assembly-friendly at low to medium volume.

• Develop CAD models, manufacturing drawings, GD&T, BOMs, and assembly documentation.

• Conduct tolerance stack-up analysisand fitment validation for subsystem integration.

• Work closely with manufacturing teams and vendors for fabrication, surface treatments, and build planning.

• Support environmental, functional, and flight test campaigns, including fixtures, instrumentation, and correlation of test data against analysis models.

• Collaborate with electronics, RF, payload, systems, and flight operations teamsto ensure integrated platform performance.

• Demonstrate hands-on know-howin using relevant measuring, inspection, and assembly instruments, and work effectively with vendors to translate design requirements into manufacturable hardware.

Requirements

Must-have Qualifications :

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field.

• 2-3 years of experience in mechanical design and analysis for defence and aerial platforms, such as UAVs, drones, airborne pods, or other aircraft-mounted systems.

• Strong proficiencyin SolidWorks for CAD modelling, complex assemblies, sheet metal, and detailed drafting.

• Hands-on experience with FEA tools such as Simcenter3D, ANSYS, or NASTRAN for structural and dynamic analysis.

• Strong understanding of:
• Mechanics of materials
• Structural dynamics and vibration environments
• Flight and operational load conditions
• Fatigue and margin of safety calculations
• Familiarity with materials and manufacturing processes for lightweight airborne structures including machining, sheet metal, bonding, composites, inserts, and surface treatments.

• Familiarity with drawing standards, GD&T, and production-ready documentation.

• Experience working closely with manufacturing and assembly teams to take designs to hardware.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Good-to-have :

• Experience with satellite or spacecraft structures, or exposure to space qualification environments.

• Experience with payload pods, gimbals, pointing mechanisms, or antenna structures.

• Exposure to MILSTD, DGQA, BIS/QCI, or DAP 2020 standards and qualification processes.

• Familiarity with thermal-structural coupling analysis.

• Experience supporting vibration, shock, and environmental test campaigns.

• Experience working in private aerospace, defence, or hardware-focused startups.