Lead Airframe Mechanical Engineer - Structural Design & Testing

Poseidon Aerospace; Alameda (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Relocation support

Health plans

Retirement matching

Flexible PTO

Free meals

Job summary

Poseidon Aerospace is redefining air freight with autonomous cargo aircraft. The Lead Mechanical Engineer will own the structural and mechanical design of major aircraft assemblies from concept through flight testing.

Role requires hands-on work in CAD, analysis, manufacturing, assembly, and testing; you will set technical direction, lead design reviews, manage subsystem interfaces, and mentor other engineers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or related field.
• 7+ years of relevant mechanical, structural, or aerospace engineering experience.
• Experience designing primary aircraft structures or large composite airframes.
• Experience with bonded composite structures and hybrid assemblies.
• Experience with aircraft mechanisms and deployable systems.
• Knowledge of composite failure criteria, buckling, fatigue, vibration, modal analysis.
• Safety-critical hardware from concept through manufacturing and testing.
• Proficiency in CAD and FEA tools (Fusion/SolidWorks/CATIA/NX/Creo; ANSYS/Nastran/Abaqus).
• Understanding of structural mechanics, load paths, tolerancing, and failure modes.
• Experience leading technical reviews and cross-team decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design of primary aircraft structures, mechanisms, and major airframe assemblies.
• Develop composite and metallic structures, joints, interfaces, and mounting systems.
• Define structural load paths, design requirements, margins, and validation methods.
• Perform and review hand calculations and finite element analysis.
• Evaluate strength, stiffness, buckling, fatigue, vibration, and composite failure modes.
• Lead preliminary and critical design reviews.
• Own CAD assemblies, production drawings, BOMs, tolerances, and releases.
• Manage mechanical interfaces across subsystems (airframe, propulsion, avionics).
• Design mechanisms (control surfaces, doors, landing gear, actuators).
• Collaborate with manufacturing on tooling, processes, inspection, and repairs.
• Plan and support testing at component, subsystem, and vehicle level.
• Investigate failures, determine root causes, implement corrective actions.
• Mentor engineers and review their work.
• Support assembly, integration, ground testing, and flight testing.

Skills

CAD software

FEM analysis

Aerospace structures

GD&T

Composite design

Design reviews

Mentoring

Education

Mechanical Engineering / Aerospace Engineering

Degree in related field

Tools

Fusion

SolidWorks

CATIA

NX

Creo

ANSYS

Nastran

Abaqus

Job description

Poseidon Aerospace is redefining air freight with autonomous cargo aircraft. The Lead Mechanical Engineer will own the structural and mechanical design of major aircraft assemblies from concept through flight testing.

Role requires hands-on work in CAD, analysis, manufacturing, assembly, and testing; you will set technical direction, lead design reviews, manage subsystem interfaces, and mentor other engineers.