Mechanical Engineer I, Gearbox & Mechanisms

Frontdoor Defense; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 81,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI in Seattle, WA is seeking an Engineer I, Mechanical to lead gearbox design and integration for autonomous aircraft. You will design, prototype, test, and release hardware with guidance from senior engineers.

The role emphasizes 3D CAD, BOMs, GD&T, and teamwork across mechanical, propulsion, electrical, and test teams. Candidates typically hold a bachelor's in mechanical or aerospace engineering and have hands-on hardware experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or related field.
• Fundamental mechanical engineering principles: statics, dynamics, materials.
• Experience with 3D CAD software through academic projects.
• Ability to create or interpret engineering drawings.
• Familiarity with GD&T fundamentals and tolerancing.
• Ability to perform basic engineering calculations and document results.
• Hands-on experience designing, building, integrating, or testing hardware.

Responsibilities

• Support design and integration of mechanical mechanisms for autonomous aircraft, including gearboxes and power transmission systems
• Create and update 3D CAD models, drawings, BOMs, and interface docs
• Perform component sizing, material selection, tolerance analysis, and packaging
• Carry out fundamental structural and machine-design calculations
• Assist with preliminary FEA and document methods and results
• Support selection and integration of gears, bearings, shafts, seals, lubricants
• Build, inspect, test, and iterate prototype hardware
• Support pre-production builds and flight testing
• Document findings and contribute to root-cause analysis
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams

Skills

Mechanical Engineering

3D CAD

GD&T

FMEA

Finite Element Analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Tools

NX CAD

MATLAB

Python

Job description

Shield AI in Seattle, WA is seeking an Engineer I, Mechanical to lead gearbox design and integration for autonomous aircraft. You will design, prototype, test, and release hardware with guidance from senior engineers.

The role emphasizes 3D CAD, BOMs, GD&T, and teamwork across mechanical, propulsion, electrical, and test teams. Candidates typically hold a bachelor's in mechanical or aerospace engineering and have hands-on hardware experience.