Lead Mechanical Engineer

EVONA; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

EVONA is partnering with an early-stage deep-tech startup in the San Francisco Bay Area to hire a hands-on Product & Mechanical Engineering Lead. You will own the integration of optical, electrical and mechanical systems into compact, manufacturable hardware, moving from prototype to production in demanding environments.

This hybrid role combines high ownership with collaboration across internal teams and external partners.

Qualifications

• Experience taking complex hardware from development to production.
• Hands-on multidisciplinary hardware engineering experience.
• Experience integrating optical, electrical and mechanical systems.
• Strong knowledge of tolerance analysis, DFM/DFA and production readiness.
• Experience owning significant portions of product or system architecture.
• Ability to operate autonomously in a fast-moving hardware environment.
• Experience with precision optics, imaging systems, photonics, laser systems or related technologies.
• Must be a U.S. Person as defined under ITAR.

Responsibilities

• Lead the integration of optical, electrical and mechanical systems into compact, manufacturable products.
• Own system architecture and key engineering trades across size, performance, reliability, cost and manufacturability.
• Drive tolerance analysis, robustness engineering and design margins.
• Lead DFM/DFA activity and develop repeatable manufacturing and assembly processes.
• Work closely with internal engineering teams and external manufacturing partners.
• Support EMC/EMI, electrical safety and product compliance testing.
• Take hardware through prototype, test, iteration and production.
• Help establish engineering and manufacturing processes as the company scales.

Skills

Multidisciplinary hardware

System integration

Optics & photonics

DFM / DFA

Architecture ownership

Autonomous work

Tolerance engineering

Production readiness

US ITAR compliance

Job description

Product & Mechanical Engineering Lead - Hybrid | San Francisco Bay Area - Optical Hardware

We’re partnering with an early-stage deep-tech company developing next-generation optical communications hardware for terrestrial and space applications.

They’re looking for a hands-on Product & Mechanical Engineering Lead who knows how to turn complex hardware from a working prototype into a robust, repeatable and manufacturable product.

This is a high-ownership role within a small engineering team. You’ll lead the integration of optical, electrical and mechanical systems into compact products designed to operate in demanding real-world environments.

The ideal person has built and shipped sophisticated physical products before and still wants to be close to the hardware.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the integration of optical, electrical and mechanical systems into compact, manufacturable products.
• Own system architecture and key engineering trades across size, performance, reliability, cost and manufacturability.
• Drive tolerance analysis, robustness engineering and design margins.
• Lead DFM/DFA activity and develop repeatable manufacturing and assembly processes.
• Work closely with internal engineering teams and external manufacturing partners.
• Support EMC/EMI, electrical safety and product compliance testing.
• Take hardware through prototype, test, iteration and production.
• Help establish engineering and manufacturing processes as the company scales.

Key Requirements

• Strong track record taking complex hardware products from development into production.
• Hands-on mechanical/product engineering experience involving multidisciplinary hardware.
• Experience integrating optical, electrical and mechanical systems.
• Strong understanding of tolerance engineering, DFM/DFA and production readiness.
• Experience owning significant portions of product or system architecture.
• Comfortable operating autonomously in a fast-moving hardware environment.
• Experience with precision optics, imaging systems, photonics, laser systems or similarly complex products is highly desirable.
• Must be a U.S. Person as defined under ITAR.

This is an opportunity to own a major part of the product roadmap at an ambitious, well-backed deep-tech startup working on hardware with applications from terrestrial communications through to space.

They want an engineer who enjoys building, testing, breaking, fixing and shipping hardware, not someone who wants to manage engineering from a distance.