Mechanical Design Engineer

Candidate Profile

• Have (or want) a 3D printer in your garage, dorm, or spare bedroom
• Take things apart just to see how they work
• Stay up too late iterating on a design because you know it can be better
• Care more about whether it works than whether it’s pretty (at first)

You are early in your career (0–3 years), but you are hungry, curious, and motivated to put in the hours required to build something new and difficult. You want to learn fast, fail fast, and be part of creating a category-defining technology. This is not a role for someone looking for strict 9–5 boundaries. It is a role for someone who wants to compress 10 years of learning into 3.

Soft Shox is changing the game in human safety. Our patented wearable hydraulic shock absorber technology has the potential to reduce head injuries and more. Already on the field with NFL/NCAA chinstraps, we’re scaling fast into sports, military, industrial, and automotive markets. We’re a lean, high-impact team with a big mission: to prevent brain injuries and save lives.

We are seeking a full-time Mechanical Design Engineer to join our team on-site in Vienna, VA. In this role, you will play a critical hands‑on role designing, prototyping, testing, and industrializing Soft Shox hardware products. This role sits at the intersection of concept development, physical prototyping, and manufacturing readiness, turning ideas into real, testable, and manufacturable products. Working closely with engineering, manufacturing, product leadership, and customers, the Mechanical Design Engineer directly contributes to delivering life‑saving technology to market while upholding the Company’s mission to prevent traumatic brain injury.

• Design, develop, and ready new hardware products for manufacture on‑time and on‑budget
• Build, assemble, and iterate physical prototypes using a wide range of materials and processes
• Collect, analyze, and synthesize engineering test data to inform design decisions
• Support design optimization for manufacturability, human factors, and non‑impact‑related requirements
• Manage and coordinate with customers, contract manufacturers, suppliers, and external consultants
• Create detailed 3D CAD models and renderings for internal use and external partners
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders
• Create inventions and provide technical input to intellectual property development and protection
• Collaborate cross‑functionally to support company‑wide goals beyond engineering when needed
• Champion the mission and values of traumatic brain injury prevention in all work

• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field
• 1–3 years of engineering experience (internships, co‑ops, personal projects count)
• Comfort with CAD (Fusion 360 a plus)
• Strong desire to create exceptional products and continuously improve
• Willingness to take on any task that moves the company forward, without ego
• Passion for the mission of traumatic brain injury prevention
• Permanent work authorization in the United States