Mechanical Engineer – Space Interceptor Hardware

GITAI; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 155,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental & vision coverage (Pl n

401(k) Plan with company match

Equity - stock option eligibility

Relocation support

Time off – holidays, vacation, sick

Office perks

Job summary

GITAI USA is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to design, build, and test mechanical hardware for interceptor vehicles. You will own hardware from layout to field testing, collaborating with propulsion, avionics, and manufacturing teams, and spending ~50% of time at remote test sites.

The role demands hands-on fabrication, tooling, and test experience, with a focus on manufacturability, reliability, and effective documentation to support rapid iterations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.
• At least one year of professional experience at a rocketry, missile, launch-vehicle, propulsion, or closely related aerospace company.
• Direct experience designing mechanical hardware that was manufactured, assembled, and tested, such as vehicle structures, avionics packaging, propulsion interfaces, mechanisms, or flight and test hardware.
• Strong 3D CAD and mechanical drawing skills, including GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, material selection, fastening methods, and design for manufacturing and assembly.
• Practical understanding of structural mechanics, load paths, vibration, shock, and thermal effects, with the ability to perform the calculations needed to support design decisions.
• Experience working directly with machinists, technicians, suppliers, or fabrication teams to resolve manufacturing, assembly, and hardware issues.
• Basic understanding of rocket or missile propulsion systems and the mechanical constraints they impose on the vehicle, along with the ability to learn unfamiliar technical areas quickly.
• Willingness and ability to spend approximately 50% of your time at remote test sites under demanding field conditions.
• U.S. citizenship is required due to the nature of GITAI's work with U.S. government customers and programs.

Responsibilities

• Design and release mechanical hardware for interceptor vehicles, including primary and secondary structures, motor mounts and interfaces, avionics packaging, internal mechanisms, enclosures, test fixtures, and ground-support equipment.
• Translate system requirements, packaging constraints, expected loads, environmental conditions, and subsystem interfaces into manufacturable CAD models, drawings, bills of materials, and assembly definitions.
• Own the prototype build cycle by working directly with machinists, technicians, suppliers, and other engineers through fabrication, inspection, assembly, integration, fit checks, and rework.
• Prepare for and execute structural, environmental, propulsion-related, and vehicle-level tests, including test hardware, setup, field operations, teardown, inspection, and rapid repair.
• Investigate manufacturing, assembly, and test failures, identify likely root causes, and close the loop through practical design changes and the next hardware build.
• Make clear tradeoffs among mass, strength, stiffness, manufacturability, cost, schedule, testability, and reliability while maintaining appropriate configuration and design documentation.

Skills

3D CAD

GD&T

Mechanical design

Manufacturing experience

Test hardware

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Job description

GITAI USA is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to design, build, and test mechanical hardware for interceptor vehicles. You will own hardware from layout to field testing, collaborating with propulsion, avionics, and manufacturing teams, and spending ~50% of time at remote test sites.

The role demands hands-on fabrication, tooling, and test experience, with a focus on manufacturability, reliability, and effective documentation to support rapid iterations.