Director of Mechanical Engineering

Red 6 is an innovative Augmented Reality (AR) technology startup leading the way in synthetic air combat training. Our primary technology, supporting our ATARS product, enables pilots to simulate the cognitive challenges of flying while accessing realistic, scalable training in dynamic outdoor environments.

The Director of Mechanical Engineering provides strategic and technical leadership for the design, integration, qualification, and production of advanced mechanical systems supporting Red 6's augmented reality (AR) aerospace products. This role oversees the end-to-end development of mechanical designs for human-worn systems, avionics hardware, optical assemblies, sensors, and aircraft-integrated equipment, ensuring mission-critical performance, environmental robustness, manufacturability, and maintainability.
This individual will lead the mechanical engineering functional teams responsible for developing lightweight, ruggedized mechanical solutions that operate reliably in demanding airborne environments. The Director will establish mechanical engineering best practices, drive technical innovation, and ensure mechanical designs meet performance, environmental, airworthiness, and production objectives while supporting rapid product development.

• Provide functional leadership and people management for the Mechanical Engineering organization, including functional capability, engineering standards, staffing strategy, technical skills development, staff career development and discipline performance.
• Work with the CTO and Director of Systems Engineering to define and improve hardware engineering processes, design practices, analysis methods, and tools.
• Enable hardware development and technical execution for ruggedized avionics and aircraft installed hardware. Ensure designs meet electrical, mechanical, environmental, thermal, vibration, EMI/EMC, and aircraft interface requirements.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Supply Chain to drive design for manufacturing, producibility, supplier readiness, and cost reductions.
• Identify gaps in hardware capability and drive strategic investments in tools, processes, laboratories, analytical methods, and emerging technologies that improve product performance across future programs
• Participate in architecture reviews, peer reviews, SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, flight readiness reviews, and other major program technical milestones.
• Perform as a technical leader on product development and integration programs, in a Chief Engineer, IPT Lead, or SME role as applicable.
• Support bid and proposal efforts by defining solution architectures, performing engineering cost estimates for labor and material, and supporting technical volume writing.
• Innovation & Technology Advancement:
  Drive adoption of advanced materials, manufacturing, and wearable system technologies.

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related STEM discipline (master's preferred).
• 12+ years of relevant experience and progressive leadership in developmental system hardware design in the defense, aerospace, or related industries.
• Experience leading mechanical engineering through the complete product development lifecycle, from requirements development, through architecture, design, prototype, test and qualification.
• Experience in ruggedized avionics hardware design, including SWaP-C optimization in military environments.
• Expertise in relevant mechanical analysis and modeling techniques such as Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), including analysis validation such as hand calculation and test correlation, to evaluate structural, thermal and aerodynamic…