Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, Hydrofoil Systems

Vessev; Auckland; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Parental leave 20 weeks

Competitive salaries

Waterfront offices

Team environment

Job summary

Vessev, a Kiwi startup creating hydrofoil electric vessels, is seeking a Mechanical Design Engineer to own the design and performance of foils, control surfaces, and propulsion integration. You’ll prototype complex assemblies, run structural analyses, and validate designs against real load cases to ensure lightweight, manufacturable solutions.

You’ll collaborate with a tight-knit team across design and manufacturing, stay on the cutting edge of hydrofoil tech, and contribute to a product that

Qualifications

• A degree in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline.
• 5-10 years' experience designing and developing complex mechanical systems.
• Strong track record taking products from concept through prototyping and into production.
• Experience making engineering decisions based on analysis and testing.
• Understanding of lightweight structures, mechanisms and manufacturable designs.
• Familiarity with aero/hydrodynamics and fluid-structure interactions.
• Excellent CAD skills and the ability to produce high-quality drawings and documentation.
• First-principles approach and collaborative mindset.

Responsibilities

• Design and prototype complex hydrofoil assemblies.
• Run structural analysis and FEA to validate loads.
• Use CAD to validate designs against load cases.
• Integrate foils and propulsion into vessel platform.
• Collaborate with manufacturing teams to ensure producibility.

Skills

Mechanical design

CAD

Aero/hydrodynamics

Prototyping

Python data analysis

Problem solving

Collaborative mindset

Hands-on hardware

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

FEA tools

Python

Job description

Vessev, a Kiwi startup creating hydrofoil electric vessels, is seeking a Mechanical Design Engineer to own the design and performance of foils, control surfaces, and propulsion integration. You’ll prototype complex assemblies, run structural analyses, and validate designs against real load cases to ensure lightweight, manufacturable solutions.

You’ll collaborate with a tight-knit team across design and manufacturing, stay on the cutting edge of hydrofoil tech, and contribute to a product that