Mechanical Engineer

Chariot Defense Inc; San Bruno (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity participation

Company-sponsored benefit plans

Job summary

A leading defense technology firm in San Bruno is seeking a skilled Mechanical Engineer to join its team. The role involves designing advanced mechanical systems for military applications, requiring strong 3D CAD skills and experience in system integration. Candidates must have a BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering and at least 2 years of related experience. The position requires on-site work with occasional travel and offers a salary range of $130,000-$180,000 annually, alongside benefits including equity participation.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in a technical engineering role.
• Proven 3D CAD skills for mechanical design.
• Experience with manufacturing processes including machining.

Responsibilities

• Own hardware design from concept to production.
• Develop mechanical designs for integration of various systems.
• Prototype rapidly to debug and iterate on designs.

Skills

Engineering intuition

Problem solving

Team collaboration

Education

BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SOLIDWORKS

MATLAB

3D printing

Job description

Chariot Defense is a defense technology company that designs and manufactures a family of power products for the U.S. military and its allies. We believe that credible deterrence of armed conflict and winning if deterrence fails, requires more than just the best drones, sensors, weapons, electronic warfare systems, and command & control capabilities. Those critical components will require sustained electric power in austere and resource‑constrained environments. Moreover, military units must be able to turn off the trucks and generators that generate this power to hide and survive. In other words, power generation must be decoupled from power consumption. Chariot Defense’s products enable exactly this capability, allowing U.S. and allied militaries to be more lethal and survivable. We hope you will join us on this mission.

About the Role

Chariot Defense is seeking a highly motivated and skilled Mechanical Engineer to join our engineering team, reporting to the Powertrain Lead Engineer. In this role, you will conceptualize, design, develop, and test advanced mechanical and power electronic systems, including fully integrated vehicle platforms. You will work across multidisciplinary engineering and design teams to ensure our systems meet stringent MIL‑STD performance, endurance and reliability, and security requirements for deployment in demanding environments, performing critical missions.

Key Responsibilities

• Design Ownership: Own hardware design from initial requirements to concept and prototyping to series production, and beyond, in service and field deployment, as an end‑to‑end owner of subsystems.
• Integrated Systems: Develop mechanical designs that involve the complex and multivariable mechanical integration of next‑gen energy storage, advanced material types, complex thermal solutions, power electronic hardware, dense PCBAs, and efficient harnessing for the tightest packaged, most efficient, and highest performing end‑product.
• Rapid Iteration: Prototype rapidly to find issues fast, debug, iterate, and develop a final, field‑deployable product on compressed timelines, closely managing risk vs. reward, effort vs. return, and balancing schedules and budget with capability and performance.
• Design for Mass Manufacturing: Design mechanical, thermal, electro‑mechanical components and assemblies, and integrated power systems, for volume manufacturing from the get‑go.
• Direct Customer Engagement: Support critical customer‑facing hardware demonstrations, from time to time, and use these interactions to better understand the customers’ requirements and application needs.

What We’re Looking For

• Top‑notch engineering intuition and first‑principles thinking toward designing complex products that function seamlessly for your customer, taking both an engineering/technical and product/customer approach, to strike the optimal balance.
• Able to independently identify critical information or priority gaps and apply effort toward closing those gaps.
• Undaunted by imperfect, incomplete or absent datasets or information, and capable of making sound, comprehensive, and swift first‑principled decisions to achieve a product end‑state that meets and/or exceeds the need of the hour.
• Not satisfied by superficial explanations of a problem or “band‑aid engineering”; seeks persistently to find the specific root cause through data‑driven methods, and resolve failures or recurring issues, so they can be mitigated to prevent future similar instances.
• Gratified by helping your peers succeed, building a robust team culture, and propagating deep camaraderie among your peers; seeks to break down information silos by collaborating rigorously with others to solve problems, share knowledge, and provide input.

Qualifications

Required:

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent work experience.
• Experience in an immersive system design project or research study/thesis, in collegiate project teams (e.g.: SAE, FSAE, BAJA, others), other extracurricular participation, or professional settings.
• A minimum of 2+ years of experience in a technical engineering, design, or product role in a professional setting.
• Proven 3D CAD skills (any platform, but SOLIDWORKS preferred), as well as CAE/FEA experience, and the ability to produce high‑quality engineering 2D drawings that comply with common industry standards (e.g.: GD&T, ASME standards etc.)
• Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals in structures, materials, fluids and aero, thermal, controls, mechanics/dynamics, system modeling, and fundamentals of physics.
• Manufacturing knowledge & experience with machine shops (sheet metal, CNC, lathe, sand casting, forging, die‑casting etc.).
• Rapid prototyping background (structures/electronics/software) & 3D printing knowledge.
• Proficient in hands‑on prototyping (machining, shop tools, welding, soldering), and demonstrated hands‑on fabrication skills.
• Familiarity with MIL‑STD, DO‑160, or other automotive, defense, and aerospace standards.

Preferred:

• Experience designing and working directly with low and high voltage systems, high current/high voltage power distribution, high voltage safety, and thermal management of lithium‑ion batteries (or other energy storage) and voltage regulating power electronics.
• Experience in industries/applications requiring high‑reliability embedded power electronics operated in austere environments, and testing exposure for lifecycle, abuse, and endurance tests.
• MATLAB/SIMULINK/SIMSCAPE experience, as well as experience with any or several CAE/FEA tools such as ANSYS, Fluent, Star CCM+, Abaqus, Comsol Multiphysics, Hyperworks etc.
• Experience with any or several instrumentation, scripting, communication and measurement tools such as LabVIEW, DIAdem, DAQs, PEAK (PCAN), Vector (CANape, CANoe etc.), Python.
• Experience with any or several data, content, and product lifecycle management systems like Confluence, JIRA, Polarion, Tableau, Teamcenter etc.
• Experience with any or several common sensors and sensing methods (such as thermocouples, force/load sensors, flow sensors, voltage probes, current clamps etc.), sensor integration, and sensor data post‑processing/filtering.

Role Requirements

• This position is an onsite role based in Chariot Defense’s San Bruno, CA, office.
• Willingness to support 10% travel, domestically and internationally, as well as work extended and weekend hours, when necessary.
• Able to work on your feet for extended periods in a shop setting.
• Able to lift and carry 50lbs.

A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is $130,000-$180,000 annually. Compensation packages also include early‑stage equity and access to company‑sponsored benefit plans.

Individual compensation packages are based on geographic location, scope of the role, relevant experience, and the ability to deal with complexity and problem‑solve within our organization, among other factors.

All employees are required to provide proof of authorization to work in the U.S. within their first 3 days of work. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.