Senior Mechanical Engineer (Maritime

Our client is a venture-backed defense technology company building autonomous, attritable underwater vehicles for the U.S. Navy. Founded in 2024, they already hold multimillion-dollar Navy contracts and design UUVs an order of magnitude cheaper than anything else in the water, so hundreds can be sent into contested areas y are closing a seed round now and expanding into multi-domain autonomous systems.

The culture is SpaceX-inspired: every engineer, intern to senior, owns a system end to end.

The role

You will be the Responsible Engineer for one of five critical mechanical subsystems on the vehicle platform, carrying it from blank sheet through sea trials and into production. This is a ground-floor seat on a small team with real equity upside.

What you will do

• Own one of five mechanical subsystems (Hull & Hydrodynamics, Structures & Integration, Mechanisms & Actuation, Battery & Energy Storage, or Propulsion) across its entire lifecycle
• Design in CAD (NX preferred) and run your own FEA and CFD (NX Nastran, Ansys Fluent, or Siemens Star-CCM+), iterating between design, analysis, and test without handing work to dedicated analysts
• Prototype, assemble, and validate hardware on the bench and in the water, including field testing and sea trials
• Integrate directly with electrical, firmware, and software counterparts, owning cross-disciplinary interfaces with no systems engineers in between
• Work hands-on with machine shops, fabrication partners, and suppliers, validating components with first-principles physics rather than trusting datasheets
• Drive your subsystem to mass production readiness and get hardware in the water in months, not years

What we are looking for

• 5 to 7+ years designing mechanical hardware from concept through production
• Deep expertise in at least one of: hull/hydrodynamics, structures, mechanisms, battery packaging, or propulsion
• A subsystem you personally architected and delivered from blank sheet to production, not a team effort you contributed to
• Expert-level CAD on complex assemblies (NX ideal), plus your own FEA, CFD, and hand calculations
• Design-for-manufacturing experience working directly with machine shops and fabrication partners
• BS or higher in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field
• U.S. citizen or green card holder (ITAR requirement, U.S. citizen preferred for clearance eligibility)
• Background in underwater vehicles, aerospace, EV/automotive, UAVs, or robotics
• Experience designing for submerged or pressurized environments (sealing, corrosion, depth qualification)
• Eligibility for a U.S. security clearance

Compensation and benefits

• $160,000 to $220,000 base
• Competitive early-stage equity

Location

On-site 5 days per week in Long Beach, Los Angeles. This role is not remote.