Senior Drone Mechanical Engineer: Airframe & Flight Systems

Decisive Point; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Applied Intuition, Inc. is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer for our drone program to shape airframes, structures and mechanical systems across the full design lifecycle, from concept to flight test.

You will own drone platforms' mechanical design, trade weight vs strength, integrate propulsion and avionics, perform analyses, prototype rapidly, and work cross-functionally with autonomy, avionics, electrical, software and flight test teams.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering or a related field.
• 10+ years designing hardware and shipping products, ideally for drones, UAS, or aircraft.
• Hands-on experience designing flight vehicles or flight-critical structures such as airframes, wings, fuselages, rotor arms, or landing gear.
• Strong understanding of what makes an aircraft fly: weight, structures, aerodynamic loads, stability, and propulsion integration.
• Experience designing lightweight structures, including composites, carbon fiber, and aerospace-grade metals.
• Experience with design for manufacturing across methods like CNC, composites, sheet metal, and additive manufacturing.
• Proficiency in CAD, SolidWorks preferred, for 3D design and modification.
• Hands-on prototyping and fabrication skills, and comfort building and testing real aircraft.

Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical design of drone platforms (airframe, fuselage, wings, rotor arms, landing gear).
• Trade off weight, strength, aerodynamics, flight time, and payload capacity.
• Integrate propulsion, batteries, avionics, and payloads into the airframe, including packaging and cabling.
• Perform structural, thermal, and vibration analyses and validate with flight/test data.
• Prototype quickly: build, assemble, and iterate on real hardware and support flight testing.
• Analyze failures and crashes, drive root cause, and turn lessons into design improvements.
• Own design/analysis/validation at component, assembly, and fully integrated aircraft levels.
• Design for manufacturability, repairability, and field serviceability.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with autonomy, avionics, electrical, software, and flight test teams.

Skills

Drone design

CAD

Structural analysis

Prototype fabrication

Flight testing

Education

B.S./M.S. Mechanical/Aerospace Eng

Tools

SolidWorks

FEA/CAE

CNC machining

Composite layup

Job description

Applied Intuition, Inc. is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer for our drone program to shape airframes, structures and mechanical systems across the full design lifecycle, from concept to flight test.

You will own drone platforms' mechanical design, trade weight vs strength, integrate propulsion and avionics, perform analyses, prototype rapidly, and work cross-functionally with autonomy, avionics, electrical, software and flight test teams.