Principal Mechanical Engineer

Heaviside Industries, Inc.; California; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical coverage

401(k) retirement plan

Job summary

Heaviside Industries is seeking an experienced mechanical design engineer to own the airframe structures, mechanisms, and payload packaging from concept to production at the Los Angeles facility. You will lead structural analyses, design for harsh operating conditions, and collaborate with in-house teams to deliver reliable munition hardware.

The role requires hands-on experience with composites and machined metals, qualification to MIL-STD-810, and strong GD&T proficiency.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of mechanical design experience on defense or aerospace hardware with products reaching flight or production.
• ownership of complete mechanical subsystems: requirements, design, analysis, qualification test, production release.
• Expert 3D CAD proficiency (NX preferred; SolidWorks or CATIA acceptable) and rigorous GD&T per ASME Y14.5.

Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical design of munition airframe structures, mechanisms, and payload packaging from concept through production in LA.
• Lead structural design and analysis — hand calculations and FEA — for airframes under launch, flight, and terminal conditions.
• Design for the tactical environment: shock, vibration, thermal extremes; MIL-STD-810 qualification campaigns.
• Drive design-for-manufacture across composites and metal parts; coordinate with in-house production teams.
• Own thermal management design for dense avionics and RF payloads in small airframes.
• Develop single-use reliability mechanisms: wing/fin deployment, tube-launch separation, aerosurface folding, actuation systems.
• Release production-ready drawing packages with GD&T per ASME Y14.5; mentor mechanical engineers.

Skills

NX CAD

GD&T

FEA

MIL-STD-810

Composites & metals

Tools

ANSYS

Nastran

SolidWorks

Job description

ABOUT HEAVISIDE INDUSTRIES

Heaviside Industries builds multi-domain autonomous precision munitions for U.S. and allied special operations and conventional forces. While modern warfare has rapidly evolved with the proliferation of unmanned systems, hyper-precise munitions in contested environments are the future of the battlefield. Economical precision strike capabilities are critical to U.S. and allied war efforts, enabling successful defeat of enemy military assets and infrastructure. Heaviside builds precision munitions designed to operate in GPS-denied and spectrum-jammed battlefields—where traditional systems degrade or fail—without inflated prices or sacrifice to performance.

All engineering and manufacturing is conducted in-house in Heaviside's Los Angeles, CA headquarters and Oslo, Norway office.

Heaviside is backed by Felicis, Hedosophia, Interlagos, Friends & Family Capital, Menlo Ventures, Flume Ventures, Cantos, and others.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Own the mechanical design of munition airframe structures, mechanisms, and payload packaging from concept through production at Heaviside's in-house LA factory.
• Lead structural design and analysis — hand calculations and FEA — for airframes subject to launch loads, flight loads, and terminal conditions.
• Design for the tactical environment: gunfire/launch shock, vibration, thermal extremes, and moisture per MIL-STD-810, with qualification campaigns to prove it.
• Drive design-for-manufacture across composites, machined metallics, and additive processes, working directly with Heaviside's in-house production and RF production teams on integrated builds.
• Own thermal management design for dense avionics and RF payload packaging in small tactical airframes.
• Develop single-use-reliability mechanisms: wing/fin deployment, tube-launch separation, folding aerosurfaces, and actuation systems.
• Release production-ready drawing packages with rigorous GD&T per ASME Y14.5, and mentor engineers across the mechanical team.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• 10+ years of mechanical design experience on defense or aerospace hardware — missiles, munitions, military UAS, or comparable flight systems — with products reaching flight or production.
• Demonstrated ownership of complete mechanical subsystems: requirements, design, analysis, qualification test, and production release.
• Expert 3D CAD proficiency (NX preferred; SolidWorks or CATIA acceptable) and rigorous GD&T per ASME Y14.5.
• Strong structural analysis capability, including FEA (e.g., Nastran, ANSYS, Abaqus) validated against test.
• Hands-on experience with composite and machined-metallic airframe design and fabrication methods.
• Experience qualifying hardware to MIL-STD-810 environments, including shock and vibration.
• [BONUS] Experience with folding aerosurfaces, tube-launched packaging, or deployment mechanisms for munitions or small UAS.
• [BONUS] Experience supporting in-house or rate manufacturing of defense hardware.
• U.S. Person as defined by ITAR (22 CFR §120.62)

Additional Information:

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

Heaviside will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, including arrest or conviction records, consistent with the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act. Heaviside intends to review criminal history after a conditional offer. Heaviside reasonably believes criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with the following duties, potentially resulting in withdrawal of the offer: (1) accessing export-controlled technical data and defense articles; (2) handling and maintaining inventory of controlled components, tools, and equipment; and (3) accessing secure facilities, laboratories, and field test sites.

Heaviside is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Heaviside is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, physical disability or any other legally protected status.