Lead, Mechanical Engineering

Rainmaker; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Rainmaker is building a modern cloud seeding system to address water scarcity and weather challenges. This hands-on role combines individual contribution with technical leadership, owning hardware from concept to production while guiding engineers across the team.

The engineer will lead a mechanical team, collaborate with Electrical, Manufacturing, Production, and Test groups, manage resources and hiring, and help scale processes as the program grows.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of mechanical engineering experience in hardware development.
• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field, or equivalent.
• Direct UAV/UAS experience (airframe, payload integration, or flight-critical structures).
• Experience managing engineers — reports, performance, and allocations.
• Excellence in parametric CAD (SolidWorks).
• Strong FEA experience: linear static, linear dynamic, nonlinear dynamic, thermal.
• Hands-on rapid prototyping: various methods.
• Significant composites experience in layup, tooling, and DFm with composites, sheet metal, polymers.
• Experience taking designs from prototype to production.
• Experience designing for staged scaling of a product; staffing and process scaling.

Responsibilities

• Direct Reports: Manage a team of mechanical engineers — set goals, run performance reviews, provide mentorship and career development.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Production, and Test teams to align on design intent, manufacturability, and program timelines.
• Resource Allocation: Prioritize and assign engineering resources across concurrent projects and subsystems based on program needs and timelines.
• Hiring: Partner with recruiting and the Program Manager on hiring plans, participate in interviews, and make hiring recommendations.
• Org Scaling: Help define team structure, processes, and technical standards as the engineering org grows; identify gaps in coverage and staffing needs ahead of program milestones.
• Project Ownership: Personally own select parts/subsystems from concept to production, including UAS structures, dispersion payload hardware, and field-emplaced infrastructure.
• Technical Direction: Set design standards and review FEA/CAD work; make final calls on technical trade-offs.
• Rapid Hardware Prototyping: Design and build functional prototypes, iterating quickly based on test feedback and mission requirements.
• Test Fixture Design: Conceptualize, design, build, and run test fixtures for prototype components.
• FEA: Define loading/boundary conditions, run and validate studies; review team output for quality.
• Documentation: Write technical documentation and prepare fabrication/assembly data packages for manufacturers.

Skills

7+ years mechanical

Team management

SolidWorks

FEA

Rapid prototyping

Composites

Production transition

Scaling teams

Education

Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering or related field

Tools

SOLIDWORKS

Job description

Rainmaker is pioneering a modern cloud seeding system to solve water scarcity and inclement weather problems. We develop and incorporate radar validation, weather-resistant UAS, numerical weather modeling, and sustainable cloud seeds into an effective precipitation enhancement solution.

The Engineering team at Rainmaker works on our UAS, dispersion payload, and in-situ/remote sensing systems. If you are interested in working in an extremely innovative and fast paced environment, where your work directly makes an impact and difference in our operational system, this is a fantastic opportunity.

This role combines hands-on individual contribution with technical leadership — you’ll own hardware from concept to production while also guiding and reviewing the work of other engineers on the team.

$120,000 - $150,000 a year

What You'll Do

People & Org Leadership

• Direct Reports: Manage a team of mechanical engineers — set goals, run performance reviews, provide mentorship and career development.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Production, and Test teams to align on design intent, manufacturability, and program timelines — resolving cross-team technical trade-offs as they arise.

• Resource Allocation: Prioritize and assign engineering resources across concurrent projects and subsystems based on program needs and timelines.

• Hiring: Partner with recruiting and the Program Manager on hiring plans, participate in interviews, and make hiring recommendations for open roles on the team.

• Org Scaling: Help define team structure, processes, and technical standards as the engineering org grows; identify gaps in coverage and staffing needs ahead of program milestones.

Technical & Individual Contribution

• Project Ownership: Personally own select parts/subsystems from concept to production, including UAS structures, dispersion payload hardware, and field-emplaced infrastructure.

• Technical Direction: Set design standards and review FEA/CAD work across the team; make final calls on technical trade-offs for your group's subsystems.

• Rapid Hardware Prototyping: Design and build functional prototypes, iterating quickly based on test feedback and mission requirements.

• Test Fixture Design: Conceptualize, design, build, and run test fixtures for prototype components.

• FEA: Define loading/boundary conditions, run and validate studies (linear static, linear dynamic, nonlinear dynamic, thermal); review team output for quality.

• Documentation: Write technical documentation and prepare fabrication/assembly data packages for manufacturers.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of mechanical engineering experience in hardware development with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field — or equivalent practical experience in lieu of a degree, including direct experience on UAV/UAS platforms (airframe, payload integration, or flight-critical structures)

• Prior experience managing engineers — direct reports, performance management, and resource/project allocation

• Excellence in parametric CAD (SolidWorks required)

• Strong FEA experience: linear static, linear dynamic, nonlinear dynamic, thermal

• Hands-on rapid prototyping experience: FDM, SLA, MJF, CO2 laser, fiber laser, press brake

• Significant composites experience — layup, tooling, and design for manufacturing with composite materials — in addition to sheet metal, molded polymers, and ceramic component design/manufacturing

• Demonstrated experience taking designs from prototype to production

• Demonstrated understanding of designing for staged scaling of a product, including staffing and process scaling as team size grows