Senior Structural Engineer, Design and Analysis

Senior Structural Engineer, Design and Analysis

Huntington Beach, California, United States

Founded in 2023, Mach Industries is a rapidly growing defense technology company focused on developing next-generation autonomous defense platforms. At the core of our mission is the commitment to delivering scalable, decentralized defense systems that enhance the strategic capabilities of the United States and its allies. With a workforce of approximately 350 employees, we operate with startup agility and ambition.

Our vision is to redefine the future of warfare through cutting-edge manufacturing, innovation at speed, and unwavering focus on national security. We are dedicated to solving the next generation of warfare with lethal systems that deter kinetic conflict and protect global security.

Mach is seeking a Senior Structural Engineer, Design and Analysis to support the design, analysis, and testing of composite structures for our next-generation autonomous vehicles. At Mach, we exist to build platforms that maintain an allied American edge. As a key member of our team, you will contribute to the development of lightweight, high-performance composite airframe structures that meet the demands of modern defense technology.

The role will involve designing composite components, performing structural analysis, supporting hands‑on fabrication and testing, and developing solutions that are optimized not only for performance, but also for scalable, high‑volume production.

• Develop structural concepts and architectures for new UAV and aircraft platforms,with emphasis on efficient load paths, lightweight design, manufacturability, and structural integration.
• Develop, maintain, and mature vehicle-level global finite element models(GFEMs) to support structural sizing, stiffness evaluation, load distribution, and vehicle development.
• Use GFEM results to actively influence structural layout, spar locations, bulkheads,frames, joints, interfaces, skin construction, and overall vehicle architecture.
• Develop appropriate FEM idealizations using shell, beam, rigid, spring, mass, andsolid elements while balancing model fidelity, computational efficiency, and engineering usefulness.
• Define modeling assumptions, boundary conditions, structural interfaces,connections, material properties, and load application methods for vehicle-levelstructural models.
• Perform structural analysis using hand calculations, classical methods, and FEA to evaluate strength, stiffness, stability, buckling, joint behavior, and structural failure modes.
• Develop structural free‑body diagrams and load paths to ensure analytical modelsaccurately represent the physical behavior of the vehicle.
• Translate GFEM loads and vehicle-level results into component‑level design loadsand detailed structural analyses.
• Perform detailed sizing and analysis of metallic, composite, and hybrid structuresincluding skins, spars, frames, bulkheads, fittings, joints, and bonded assemblies.
• Develop laminate architectures and composite structural concepts using classicallaminate theory, finite element analysis, and appropriate composite failure criteria.
• Work directly with designers to iterate structural geometry based on analyticalresults rather than treating design and analysis as separate activities.
• Review CAD designs for structural efficiency, load‑path continuity,manufacturability, assembly considerations, and analytical assumptions.
• Establish structural margins and clearly communicate critical load cases, failure modes, sensitivities, and design recommendations to engineering leadership and vehicle teams.
• Support structural test planning, instrumentation definition, test execution, andcorrelation of analytical models with physical…