Chief Mechanical Architect — Modular Vehicle Platform

Grounded RV; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health insurance

Job summary

Grounded, a Detroit-based startup building modular electric platforms for specialty vehicles, seeks a Head of Mechanical Engineering to lead the team and own the essential modular system. You will guide architecture, balance current production with scaling efforts, and partner with leadership to drive the product platform forward.

You’ll stay hands-on in CAD and on the shop floor, shaping the engineering culture and standards while delivering vehicles for diverse customers today and in the

Qualifications

• 10+ years of mechanical design/engineering experience with leadership roles
• Experience taking products from concept to production, ideally in automotive/industrial sectors
• Strong hands-on CAD ability (NX preferred) and familiarity with alternative tools
• Deep design-for-manufacturability knowledge: welded structures, sheet metal, rapid prototyping
• Systems-level thinking to define platform architecture and modularity
• Comfort on a shop floor and close collaboration with technicians
• Startup or small-company experience and ability to operate with ambiguity
• Experience hiring and building engineering teams

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, hire, and grow the mechanical engineering team; oversee ramp-up and performance
• Set the technical vision and standards for mechanical design across vehicles and modular platform
• Own the modular system architecture to enable configurable vehicles without bespoke engineering
• Balance delivering current customer vehicles with iterative modularity improvements
• Stay hands-on: design complex assemblies in NX and work with technicians on the shop floor
• Understand and plan integration of mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems
• Collaborate with software on automating design and manufacturing workflows
• Establish scalable engineering processes and align with leadership on roadmaps

Skills

Mechanical design

Leadership

NX CAD

Platform architecture

Shop floor collaboration

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

CATIA

Job description

Grounded, a Detroit-based startup building modular electric platforms for specialty vehicles, seeks a Head of Mechanical Engineering to lead the team and own the essential modular system. You will guide architecture, balance current production with scaling efforts, and partner with leadership to drive the product platform forward.

You’ll stay hands-on in CAD and on the shop floor, shaping the engineering culture and standards while delivering vehicles for diverse customers today and in the