Principal Mechanical Engineer

Thales Defense & Security, Inc.

Headquartered in Clarksburg, MD, Thales Defense & Security, Inc. (TDSI) is a U.S. company that has been serving domestic and international defense Air, Land and Sea domains for 60+ years. With over 1,000 employees, TDSI and its four subsidiaries—Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Digital Receiver Technology, Tampa Microwave, and Trusted Cyber Technologies—support U.S. Joint Services, special operations forces and multi‑national partners with a variety of communication, visualization, signal intelligence/electronic warfare, and sensor/sonar capabilities.

TDSI’s key technologies include tactical handheld radios, expeditionary satellite terminals, helmet‑mounted displays, optics and target recognition capability, advanced radars, undersea sensing and missile systems. Lives depend on what we do!

• Yearly Incentive Compensation Plan
• Medical insurance for self and eligible family members
• Generous 401(k) program—up to 7% company contribution and 100% immediate vesting
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid wellness, vacation, and holiday leave
• Paid maternity, paternity, and parental leave
• 9/80 Work Schedule (every other Friday off)

We are excited to announce an opening in our Germantown, MD campus for a Principal Mechanical Engineer, reporting into the Mechanical Engineering Manager.

• Lead mechanical design elements of new product development as a member of a multi‑disciplined design team to successfully execute all phases of the product design process.
• Support the definition of products and requirements to support customer needs.
• Develop detailed design specifications and test plans.
• Develop creative conceptual designs to meet system requirements and support the product strategy.
• Implement design ideas into product designs using the latest materials, processes and manufacturing techniques to satisfy product requirements including cost and schedule requirements.
• Design and analyze small, lightweight, ruggedized mechanical design packaging and interconnects to meet key technical requirements using the latest in CAD/CAE tools.
• Fabricate rapid prototypes, conduct verification testing, and support the transition of the design to full production, including supplier and manufacturing start‑up.
• Support R&D efforts and continuous process improvements.
• Complete assigned tasks in a quality and timely manner with minimal supervision.
• Effectively support and communicate status, issues, needs and ideas to management.

• U.S. Citizenship required. Applicants may be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.
• BSME or equivalent, MSME preferred.
• 8+ years of mechanical design experience.
• Experience and strong knowledge of industry/DoD standards and practices (MIL-STD, ASTM, ANSI, FCC, UL, CE, RoHS, REACH, IPC, etc.).
• Ability to lead mechanical design elements of new product development as a member of a multi‑disciplined design team from initial product conceptualization to production release and production transition with minimal supervision.
• Knowledge and experience designing electronics packaging products.
• Ability to analyze a design to meet technical requirements.
• Ability to effectively solve problems (define problems, collect data/facts, and draw conclusions), and implement solutions.
• Ability to think "out-of-the-box" and develop innovative design concepts.
• Knowledge and experience designing various production manufacturing processes, including machining, casting, injection molding, flexible and rigid PCBs, and cabling/interconnects.
• Experience with configuration management and managing design artifacts (BOMs, drawings, models, documents, etc.) through prototype and production releases using product lifecycle management/configuration management software tools, ideally, PTC Windchill.
• Experience designing products for low, medium, and high-volume manufacturing, and for low cost.
• Proficiency in the use of CAD/CAE tools, ideally, Creo/Pro Engineer or Solidworks.
• Experience with Microsoft Office tools, including MSExcel, MSWord, Visio and MSProject.
• Agility and innovation with a focus on quality and on-time…