Staff Mechanical Engineer

CHAOS is seeking a hands-on Staff Mechanical Design Engineer to lead the design and integration of air-launched and ground-launched aerospace vehicles and associated hardware, from early concept development through flight test and production support. This is a build-and-fly environment. You will own mechanical design for airframes, control surfaces, and structures while working closely across engineering and manufacturing functions to get real hardware flying.

This is a full-time position in El Segundo, CA or Tucson, AZ depending on the candidate’s preference and needs of the role. The El Segundo position requires regular on-site work. The Tucson position may be primarily remote; however, the employee must reside within reasonable commuting distance of Tucson and be able to report on-site as needed.

This requisition is open to candidates who may be considered for a lower or higher job level. Final level and grade will be determined based on relevant experience, skills, and qualifications.

• Perform hands-on mechanical design and integration of flight-vehicle structures and mechanical hardware, including control surfaces, payload and avionics hardware, mechanisms, enclosures, and related support equipment
• Own the mechanical design and integration of defined subsystems, product areas, or major assemblies
• Perform trade studies and recommend path forward
• Develop and maintain 3D CAD models, assemblies, detailed drawings, assembly and installation documentation, and interface control documents (ICDs)
• Develop mechanical designs subject to structural, thermal, environmental, manufacturability, installation, and operational requirements
• Perform first-order structural and thermal analyses, hand calculations, requirements analysis, and design verification activities
• Lead design review on owned design.
• Work collaboratively with mechanical, electrical, electrical harness, RF, power, manufacturing, systems engineering, customers, suppliers, and platform providers to resolve integration challenges
• Support system integration, qualification, and flight testing, including fit-check, installation, alignment, and troubleshooting
• Support prototype fabrication, assembly, transition to production, configuration control, fielding, and sustainment of deployed systems
• Mentor junior engineers

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline
• 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in mechanical design and integration of airframes, flight vehicles, structural assemblies, or related aerospace hardware
• Demonstrated experience designing airframes, control surfaces, and structural assemblies
• Strong proficiency with mechanical CAD tools (SolidWorks, CATIA, NX, or equivalent), including production-ready drawings with GD&T, tolerance analysis, and configuration-controlled documentation
• Strong understanding of structural load paths, joints, fasteners, inserts, bearings, hinges, and bonded joints
• Experience designing or integrating metallic or composite structures subject to vibration, shock, thermal, aerodynamic, and other environmental requirements, including structural analysis using hand calculations and/or FEA
• Experience applying military specifications and applicable aerospace, defense, and airworthiness standards
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

• Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
• Experience with composite materials, bonded joints, and composite manufacturing processes
• Experience with advanced structural analysis methods (fatigue, damage tolerance, fracture mechanics, buckling, aeroelasticity) using commercial FEA/multiphysics tools (ANSYS, NASTRAN, ABAQUS, COMSOL, or similar)
• Experience with airframe manufacturing processes, including machining, sheet metal, forming, welding, additive manufacturing, or assembly
• Experience supporting structural or flight testing, including instrumentation, strain-gage testing, environmental qualification, or flight-test range operations
• Experience with deployment, release, or separation mechanisms for air- or ground-launched vehicles
• Experience integrating avionics, sensors, payloads, propulsion systems, or other mission equipment into flight vehicles
• Experience with wire-harness routing and connector selection and integration in space-constrained or separation-critical assemblies

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, ‘No meeting Fridays’, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 350 employees and counting across 5 global offices

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.

Recruiting Agencies: CHAOS Industries does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach. Unsolicited submissions will not be reviewed or compensated.

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com.