Senior Drone Mechanical Engineer – Airframe & Flight Systems

Applied Intuition; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Applied Intuition, Inc. is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to own the drone platform design from airframe to landing gear, partnering with autonomy, avionics and flight test teams.

This hands-on role builds lightweight, flight-ready hardware for a cutting-edge drone program in a fast-growing company. You will iterate prototypes, conduct structural and thermal analyses, and incorporate propulsion, batteries, and payloads into the airframe.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years building hardware for drones/an aircraft.
• Hands-on experience with flight vehicles or flight-critical structures.
• Knowledge of weight, structures, aerodynamics, propulsion integration.
• Experience with lightweight materials like composites and aerospace metals.
• Experience with manufacturability across CNC, composites, sheet metal, and additive manufacturing.
• Proficient in CAD, SolidWorks for 3D design.
• Hands-on prototyping and fabrication, testing real aircraft.

Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical design of drone platforms including airframe, fuselage, wings or rotor arms, landing gear, and structural components
• Make the tradeoffs between weight, strength, aerodynamics, flight time, and payload capacity that determine whether an aircraft flies well
• Integrate propulsion, batteries, avionics, and payloads into the airframe, including packaging, mounting, cooling, and cable routing
• Perform structural, thermal, and vibration analysis, and use flight and test data to validate and improve the design
• Prototype quickly: build, assemble, and iterate on real hardware, and support flight testing and field operations
• Analyze failures and crashes, drive root cause, and turn lessons into design improvements
• Own the design, analysis, and validation at the component, assembly, and fully integrated aircraft level
• Design for manufacturability, repairability, and field serviceability
• Work cross-functionally with autonomy, avionics, electrical, software, and flight test teams to make sure designs meet mission requirements

Skills

Drone hardware

Aircraft dynamics

Prototype fabrication

Flight test support

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

BS/MS Mechanical or Aerospace Eng

Tools

SolidWorks

CNC machining

Composite layup

FEA/CAE

Job description

Applied Intuition, Inc. is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to own the drone platform design from airframe to landing gear, partnering with autonomy, avionics and flight test teams.

This hands-on role builds lightweight, flight-ready hardware for a cutting-edge drone program in a fast-growing company. You will iterate prototypes, conduct structural and thermal analyses, and incorporate propulsion, batteries, and payloads into the airframe.