Staff Mechanical Design Engineer

Castelion Corporation; Torrance, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Castelion is seeking a high-output Staff Mechanical Design Engineer in Torrance, CA, with 8+ years of experience designing, analyzing, testing, and delivering flight hardware.

You will serve as a domain expert and technical leader, owning mission-critical hardware from concept through flight and mentoring engineers to grow their capabilities. Strong CAD, GD&T, and structural analysis skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of professional mechanical engineering experience.
• Demonstrated experience taking complex hardware from concept through design, analysis, manufacturing, integration, test, and operation.
• Deep expertise in at least one mechanical domain, such as mechanisms, structures, avionics packaging, or similar.
• Expert-level CAD and mechanical design skills, including GD&T, tolerance analysis, materials, and manufacturability.
• Strong understanding of structural mechanics, statics, vibration, and FEA.
• Experience designing high-performance hardware with constraints on mass, cost, schedule, reliability, and manufacturability.
• Strong hands-on problem-solving skills and experience working directly with hardware.

Responsibilities

• Own Flight Hardware: Lead the design, analysis, build, integration, and test of critical flight hardware from concept through flight.
• Technical Excellence: Serve as a technical authority in a mechanical domain such as mechanisms, structures, or avionics packaging. Establish and maintain high standards for design, analysis, manufacturability, and flight readiness.
• Structural Analysis: Perform and/or lead structural analysis using first-principles engineering, FEA, statics, vibration, and modal analysis.
• Rapid Development: Drive high-cadence design iterations, incorporating test results and lessons learned into rapid hardware improvements.
• Hands-On Engineering: Work directly with technicians, manufacturing, suppliers, and test teams to troubleshoot hardware and drive problems to closure.
• Engineering Leadership: Mentor engineers through design reviews, technical problem-solving, and hands‑on coaching. Raise the technical capability and engineering standards of the broader team.
• Engineering Rigor: Improve CAD, analysis, documentation, hardware development, and design practices while maintaining speed and technical discipline.

Skills

CAD & FEM

Mechanisms

Structures

Avionics packaging

GD&T & tolerance analysis

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

8+ years of professional mechanical engineering experience

Job description

Castelion is moving incredibly fast to develop and deliver advanced defense systems at a time when execution matters more than ever. We believe focus, ownership, and excellence are decisive advantages - and we're building a world-class team to turn bold ideas into real capability.

This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage, where you'll have significant ownership, collaborate with exceptional teammates, and make a direct, measurable impact on our mission and the future of the company - regardless of your function.

Staff Mechanical Design Engineer

Castelion is seeking a high-output Staff Mechanical Design Engineer with 8+ years of experience designing, analyzing, testing, and delivering flight hardware. This role is for a deeply technical engineer who can serve as a domain expert and technical leader while owning mission-critical hardware from concept through flight.

The Staff Mechanical Design Engineer will develop expertise in an area such as mechanisms, structures, avionics packaging, or other mechanical systems, and will set a high bar for technical excellence across the team. This person will be expected to solve complex engineering problems independently, make sound design and analysis trade-offs, and mentor engineers to grow their technical capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Own Flight Hardware: Lead the design, analysis, build, integration, and test of critical flight hardware from concept through flight.
• Technical Excellence: Serve as a technical authority in a mechanical domain such as mechanisms, structures, or avionics packaging. Establish and maintain high standards for design, analysis, manufacturability, and flight readiness.
• Structural Analysis: Perform and/or lead structural analysis using first-principles engineering, FEA, statics, vibration, and modal analysis.
• Rapid Development: Drive high-cadence design iterations, incorporating test results and lessons learned into rapid hardware improvements.
• Hands-On Engineering: Work directly with technicians, manufacturing, suppliers, and test teams to troubleshoot hardware and drive problems to closure.
• Engineering Leadership: Mentor engineers through design reviews, technical problem-solving, and hands‑on coaching. Raise the technical capability and engineering standards of the broader team.
• Engineering Rigor: Improve CAD, analysis, documentation, hardware development, and design practices while maintaining speed and technical discipline.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of professional mechanical engineering experience.
• Demonstrated experience taking complex hardware from concept through design, analysis, manufacturing, integration, test, and operation.
• Deep expertise in at least one mechanical domain, such as mechanisms, structures, avionics packaging, or similar.
• Expert-level CAD and mechanical design skills, including GD&T, tolerance analysis, materials, and manufacturability.
• Strong understanding of structural mechanics, statics, vibration, and FEA.
• Experience designing high-performance hardware with constraints on mass, cost, schedule, reliability, and manufacturability.
• Strong hands-on problem-solving skills and experience working directly with hardware.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience correlating analytical models with physical test data.
• Aerospace, hypersonic, launch vehicle, spacecraft, or other high-performance flight hardware experience.
• Experience establishing engineering standards or methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop engineers technically.
• Experience working with composites, coatings, finishes, and advanced manufacturing processes.

Castelion offers a generous benefits package. Please refer to the bottom of our Careers page for more details.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Additional Eligibility Requirements

This position may require access to classified information or restricted U.S. Government sites, systems, or information, as determined by the Company and/or applicable U.S. Government requirements. If the position is so designated, your employment in the role may be contingent upon your ability to obtain and maintain the required U.S. Government security clearance or other government authorization, and to satisfy any citizenship or other eligibility requirements imposed by applicable law, regulation, executive order, or government contract requirements. You will be notified if and when such requirements apply.

Affirmative Action/EEO Statement

Castelion is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Castelion is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and hiring process. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete an application, participate in the interview process, or otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact [e-mail]. Requests for accommodation will be considered on an individual basis and handled in accordance with applicable law.

Castelion is committed to fostering a workplace where employment decisions are based on qualifications, business needs, and the ability to perform the essential functions of the role, with or without reasonable accommodation.

This position requires access to export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to access all applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.