{"id":1245404,"url":"https://alion.io/job/seeing-systems-mechanical-hardware-engineer","title":"Mechanical Hardware Engineer","company":{"id":3779732,"name":"Seeing Systems","domain":"seeing-systems.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/seeing-systems","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Work at a Startup","truth_index":null},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"junior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["London, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":30000,"max":45000,"currency":"GBP","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":59786},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":1,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Fusion 360","optional":false},{"name":"SolidWorks","optional":false},{"name":"AI Agents","optional":true},{"name":"Sensor Fusion","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-25T17:23:59Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-25","last_verified_at":"2026-10-01T06:55:25Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":6,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":6},"description":"About Us\n\"Seeing Systems is building autonomous drone systems that can perceive, navigate, and act intelligently in complex real-world environments.\"\nWe're advancing autonomy through monocular vision, sensor fusion, and robust system design - drones that keep working where traditional systems fail, supported by an agentic stack that reduces operator cognitive load.\nOur first product is an FPV-class drone built from the ground up with a modular hardware architecture. If we get the first platform right, we can move fast on everything else: larger airframes, longer range, new payloads, and new mission profiles without rebuilding the stack each time.\nWe were founded by brothers Matthew and Alexander Le Maitre. Matthew is a former Jane Street engineer and Cambridge CS graduate with a background in autonomous systems research. Alexander is a self-taught hardware engineer who has been building unmanned systems and military-grade electronics.\nWe're an early-stage, fast-moving team working at the intersection of robotics, perception, and real-world deployment. We iterate weekly. We test in real environments.\nThe Role\nYou will design, build, and test the physical systems around our electronics as a core member of our growing hardware team.\nThat means hands-on mechanical engineering work across our aircraft and ground stations: airframes, enclosures, mounts, thermal solutions, payload integration, and packaging. You'll take ownership of defined subsystems and see them through from CAD model to a validated part on a flying aircraft.\nYou'll report to our Founding Hardware Engineer and work closely with Alex, our co-founder and hardware lead. This is a role for an engineer early in their career who wants to grow fast: you'll be given real responsibility, real deadlines, and real feedback from the field, with senior engineers beside you at the bench.\nWithin 30 days: you've designed, prototyped, and fitted a part flying on one of our platforms and joined a field test. Within 90 days: you've taken a mechanical subsystem from CAD through prototyping to a validated revision flying on one of our drones.\nWhat You'll Do\nDesign mechanical parts and assemblies for defined subsystems under the direction of the Founding Hardware Engineer: airframe components, enclosures, mounts, payload interfaces, and ground station hardware.\n\nOwn prototyping and iteration for your subsystems: 3D printing, CNC and sheet-metal parts, fit checks, and rework through fast design cycles.\n\nDesign for the environment: vibration, shock, thermal management, ingress protection, and weight targets on flying platforms.\n\nIntegrate electronics into airframes: packaging, cable routing, connector placement, and serviceability, working closely with the electrical team.\n\nBuild and maintain aircraft: assembly, repairs, and configuration control across our test fleet.\n\nRun test campaigns with our testing lead: prepare aircraft, capture data, log failures, and feed findings back into the next revision.\n\nWork with manufacturers on quotes, DFM feedback, tolerances, and incoming inspection as we scale production.\n\nUse AI tools to accelerate design, analysis, and documentation.\n\nWhat We're Looking For\nMinimum 2 years of hands-on mechanical engineering experience (professional, or a genuinely equivalent portfolio of shipped personal projects).\nStrong CAD skills in SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or similar - you've taken at least one part from model to manufactured, working hardware.\nSolid grounding in materials, fastening, tolerancing, and design for manufacture.\nConfident in the workshop: 3D printers, hand tools, and methodical fault-finding on physical assemblies.\nComfortable with the gap between \"works on the bench\" and \"works at range in the field.\"\nBias toward shipping.\nComfortable getting outside and testing in the real world with us\nNice to Have\nDefence, aerospace, or UAV industry experience.\nPersonal experience building and flying drones, robots, or other unmanned systems.\nComposites experience (carbon fibre layup, moulding, or repair).\nFEA or thermal simulation experience.\nExperience with injection moulding or other volume manufacturing processes.\nBasic electronics literacy (soldering, harnessing, reading schematics).\nEarly-stage startup experience.\nWhy Join\nReal ownership of subsystems from day one, with senior engineers invested in your growth.\nFast iteration: hardware in operators' hands in months, not years.\nSmall, high-agency team with a direct line from idea to field test.\nReal deployment pressure, real feedback, real learning.\nA clear path to grow into broader hardware ownership as the team scales.\nSnack of choice stocked in the workshop.","description_format":"text","description_chars":4667,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":1,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Drones & UAVs","Military Drones"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-25T17:23:59Z"}],"liveness":{"score":88,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.884,"p_room":1,"age_days":5,"expected_fill_days":30,"reasons":["conf:11","velocity","win:early","comp:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-10-01T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":59786,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/seeing-systems-mechanical-hardware-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/seeing-systems-mechanical-hardware-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-01T18:55:52Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":1152,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":3848,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-02T00:00:00Z"}}}