Mechanical Engineer, Aircraft

Swarm Aero; Oxnard (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Competitive salary

Medical/dental/vision

PTO & sick leave

Wellness stipend

Catered lunch

Parental leave

Meaningful mission

Top engineering team

Job summary

Swarm Aero in Oxnard, CA seeks a mechanical engineer to design and test primary/secondary structures for a large autonomous aircraft. You’ll work cross-functionally with propulsion, thermal, and test teams to push fast, iterative hardware development.

You will perform structural analysis, develop mechanisms, and solve packaging challenges in tight volumes while coordinating with manufacturing and suppliers to build hardware for flight tests.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering field.
• 3+ years designing, analyzing, or testing hardware (aerospace/defense backgrounds welcome).
• Proficient in CAD (NX, CATIA or SolidWorks) with GD&T knowledge.
• Hands-on mindset; built the things you designed.
• Bias toward speed; prefer iterative testing over perfect paperwork.
• Ability to work onsite in Oxnard, CA.

Responsibilities

• Design primary and secondary structures for a large autonomous aircraft.
• Perform structural analysis and margin assessments on flight hardware.
• Design mechanisms and integrate actuation systems.
• Solve thermal and packaging challenges in tight volumes.
• Build and run test campaigns to validate designs.
• Collaborate with manufacturing and suppliers to build hardware.
• Support ground and flight test operations.

Skills

CAD proficiency

GD&T knowledge

Hands-on mindset

Speed bias

Education

BS or MS in Mechanical, Aerospace or related engineering field

Tools

NX

CATIA

SolidWorks

Job description

Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results.

The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.

About This Role

This is a general application for mechanical engineers who want to build aircraft. We hire across the full mechanical spectrum, including:

• Structures design (composite and metallic primary and secondary structure)
• Stress and structural analysis
• Mechanisms and actuation (control surfaces, landing gear, doors, payload systems)
• Thermal management and environmental control
• Propulsion integration
• Materials and processes
• Test engineering (structural test, ground test, flight test support)

We may not have an active opening that matches your exact background today. When we do, we will reach out. Strong candidates are reviewed by our engineering leadership on a rolling basis.

What You Might Work On

• Design primary and secondary structure for a large autonomous aircraft
• Perform structural analysis and margin assessments on flight hardware
• Design mechanisms and integrate actuation systems
• Solve thermal and packaging challenges in tight volumes
• Build and run test campaigns that prove your designs work
• Work directly with manufacturing and suppliers to get hardware built
• Support ground and flight test operations

What We Look For

• BS or MS in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a related engineering field
• 3+ years of experience designing, analyzing, or testing hardware. Aircraft, spacecraft, automotive, or other high-performance hardware backgrounds all apply
• Proficiency in CAD (NX, CATIA, or SolidWorks) and a working knowledge of GD&T
• Hands-on mindset. You have built the things you designed
• Bias toward speed. You test early and iterate rather than perfect on paper
• Ability to work onsite in Oxnard, CA

Nice to have

• Experience with FEA tools (Nastran, Abaqus, Ansys)
• Experience taking hardware through qualification or certification
• Experience at a startup or on a small, fast-moving team

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Swarm Aero is an equal opportunity employer. We value diverse backgrounds and experiences and make employment decisions without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability.

What We Offer

• Meaningful equity in a high-growth defense technology company
• Competitive base salary commensurate with experience
• Medical, dental, vision, and 401k
• PTO and paid sick leave
• Monthly wellness stipend
• Daily catered lunch (office)
• Paid parental leave
• Direct impact on a critical national security mission
• A world-class team of engineers and operators solving genuinely hard problems