Mechanical Engineer

Apera; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Apera is seeking a Founding Mechanical Design Engineer – Mechanisms in Los Angeles to own critical aircraft mechanical systems from layout through flight test. You will design real hardware, collaborate with builders, and address integration challenges on the vehicle.

The role emphasizes hands‑on work beyond CAD, including testing, troubleshooting, and iteration using modern engineering tools and AI aids. This is a founding position with broad ownership.

Qualifications

• 3–8 years of mechanical design experience on aircraft or similarly complex vehicles.
• Personally owned mechanical hardware from concept through drawings, build, installation, and test.
• Strong proficiency in Siemens NX for part modeling, assemblies, and drafting.
• Experience designing mechanisms, actuator installations, landing-gear hardware, or other integrated mechanical systems.
• Strong understanding of load paths, joints, bearings, fasteners, materials, tolerances, and fatigue‑sensitive design.
• Familiarity with metallic and composite airframe construction and fastening methods.
• Hands‑on experience installing, rigging, testing, or troubleshooting mechanical systems.
• Strong ownership, urgency, learning speed, and engineering judgment.
• General aviation or piloting experience is a significant plus.

Responsibilities

• Own systems including landing gear and brakes, flight‑control mechanisms, actuator installations, propulsion packaging, cockpit controls, seats, doors, hinges, and latches.
• Design mechanisms, fittings, brackets, linkages, bellcranks, clevis joints, mounts, and structural attachments.
• Size loads and select appropriate materials, bearings, bushings, fasteners, and manufacturing processes.
• Produce configuration‑controlled models, assemblies, interface definitions, and release‑quality drawings.
• Resolve packaging, access, weight, rigging, cooling, routing, and manufacturing conflicts across the aircraft.
• Work directly with structures, propulsion, flight controls, avionics, manufacturing, and flight test.
• Support fabrication, installation, rigging, proof testing, leak testing, ground testing, and aircraft troubleshooting.
• Use hand calculations and appropriate analysis tools to validate designs.
• Use modern engineering and AI tools to accelerate design trades, calculations, documentation, and iteration.

Skills

Mech design

Hands-on engineering

System integration

Ownership & accountability

Tools

Siemens NX

CAD drafting

FEA

Job description

Looking for a Founding Mechanical Design Engineer – Mechanisms to take ownership of critical aircraft mechanical systems from initial layout and detailed design through released drawings, installation, ground testing, and flight test.

This is a highly hands‑on role for an engineer who wants to do more than sit behind CAD. You’ll design real aircraft hardware, work directly with the people building it, solve integration problems on the vehicle, and ultimately see your designs fly.

What You’ll Do

• Own systems including landing gear and brakes, flight‑control mechanisms, actuator installations, propulsion packaging, cockpit controls, seats, doors, hinges, and latches.
• Design mechanisms, fittings, brackets, linkages, bellcranks, clevis joints, mounts, and structural attachments.
• Size loads and select appropriate materials, bearings, bushings, fasteners, and manufacturing processes.
• Produce configuration‑controlled models, assemblies, interface definitions, and release‑quality drawings.
• Resolve packaging, access, weight, rigging, cooling, routing, and manufacturing conflicts across the aircraft.
• Work directly with structures, propulsion, flight controls, avionics, manufacturing, and flight test.
• Support fabrication, installation, rigging, proof testing, leak testing, ground testing, and aircraft troubleshooting.
• Use hand calculations and appropriate analysis tools to validate designs.
• Use modern engineering and AI tools to accelerate design trades, calculations, documentation, and iteration.

What We’re Looking For

• Approximately 3–8 years of mechanical design experience on aircraft or similarly complex vehicles.
• Personally owned mechanical hardware from concept through drawings, build, installation, and test.
• Strong proficiency in Siemens NX for part modeling, assemblies, and drafting.
• Experience designing mechanisms, actuator installations, landing‑gear hardware, or other integrated mechanical systems.
• Strong understanding of load paths, joints, bearings, fasteners, materials, tolerances, and fatigue‑sensitive design.
• Familiarity with metallic and composite airframe construction and fastening methods.
• Hands‑on experience installing, rigging, testing, or troubleshooting mechanical systems.
• Strong ownership, urgency, learning speed, and engineering judgment.
• General aviation or piloting experience is a significant plus.

We’d especially like to speak with engineers who:

• Have designed and released landing gear, flight‑control linkages, actuator installations, or propulsion‑system packaging.
• Have taken aircraft hardware from a blank sheet through installation and flight test.
• Can describe a mechanism, tolerance, rigging, or structural‑attachment problem they personally diagnosed and resolved.
• Have built or substantially modified an experimental aircraft.
• Have experience with hydraulic or electromechanical actuation systems.
• Understand engine or nacelle packaging, accessory routing, cooling paths, and firewall interfaces.
• Can perform hand stress calculations and use FEA appropriately for local fittings and brackets.
• Have worked at a general aviation OEM, experimental‑aircraft company, UAV company, or flight‑hardware supplier.

If you want to design aircraft hardware and then walk onto the shop floor and help make it work, this is that kind of role.