Head of Mechanical Design Engineering
1 week ago
Northwood is on a mission to transform connectivity between earth and space and bring the benefits of space to the masses through innovations in space communications technologies. If you like building quickly and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe with real impact, we want you at Northwood.
Role:
Northwood is seeking an accomplished and visionary Head of Mechanical Engineering to lead the development of precision mechanical systems in support of advanced RF and antenna technologies. This role will oversee the full mechanical engineering domain, including the design and integration of mechanisms, structural components, electrical interfaces, radomes, and reflectors. As a key member of the engineering leadership team, you will drive innovation, set technical direction, and lead a multidisciplinary team of mechanical engineers to deliver cutting-edge hardware solutions. This position requires strong technical expertise, cross-functional coordination, and people management skills. You will work closely with RF engineers, antenna designers, electrical engineers, systems engineers, and manufacturing teams to ensure robust, scalable, and high-performance mechanical solutions.
Responsibilities:
- Lead and mentor a growing team of mechanical engineers across multiple disciplines, including mechanisms, structures, radomes, and electrical-mechanical integration
- Set the mechanical engineering strategy and establish design standards to ensure consistency, reliability, and manufacturability across all projects
- Oversee the design and development of high-precision actuators and structural components for RF and antenna systems
- Ensure effective collaboration with cross-functional teams to meet product design goals and interface requirements, including mechanical-electrical integration and RF performance compatibility
- Direct the execution of kinematic, structural, thermal, and fatigue analyses to validate performance under real-world environmental conditions
- Provide technical oversight and review of all mechanical subsystem designs, test plans, and integration activities
- Define and oversee mechanical validation and verification activities, including environmental testing, vibration testing, and RF system-level integration tests
- Drive continuous improvement in design processes, tool development, cost optimization, and performance enhancement
- Support production ramp-up by guiding tooling development, assembly process design, and troubleshooting issues during manufacturing and field deployment
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
- 10+ years of mechanical engineering experience with a focus on precision mechanisms and structural systems
- 5+ years of engineering leadership experience, with a track record of managing and developing high-performing teams
- Extensive experience with CAD tools (e.g., Siemens NX, SolidWorks) and mechanical simulation tools (e.g., ANSYS)
- Strong understanding of mechanical design fundamentals, including kinematics, materials science, and structural analysis
- Master's degree or Ph.D. in a relevant engineering field
- 5+ years of experience designing and managing actuation systems for antennas or RF structures
- Familiarity with manufacturing methods such as machining, injection molding, welding, composite fabrication, and additive manufacturing
- Experience designing and integrating radomes, reflectors, and other RF-related mechanical structures
- Expertise in environmental and reliability testing (e.g., thermal cycling, vibration, shock)
- Proven ability to collaborate across engineering disciplines and communicate effectively with executive stakeholders
Additional Information:
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Northwood is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
#LI-DNI
-
Senior Mechanical Design Engineer
4 days ago
Torrance, CA, United States Castelion Corporation Full timeAbout the job Senior Mechanical Design Engineer About Castelion Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale. Were designing, building, and testing next generation long range...
-
Senior Mechanical Design Engineer
6 days ago
Torrance, CA, United States Castelion Corporation Full timeAbout the job Senior Mechanical Design Engineer About Castelion Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale. Were designing, building, and testing next generation long range...
-
Senior Mechanical Design Engineer
3 hours ago
Torrance, CA, United States Castelion Corporation Full timeAbout the job Senior Mechanical Design Engineer About Castelion Castelion is bringing a new approach to defense development and production: one that focuses on short, iterative design cycles, rapid testing in development, and modern commercial manufacturing strategies for production at scale. Were designing, building, and testing next generation long range...
-
Opto-Mechanical Engineer
6 days ago
Torrance, CA, United States Divergent Enterprises Full timeDivergent is a technology company that has architected, invented, built, and commercialized an end-to-end factory system called the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) that comprehensively uses machine learning to optimally engineer, additively manufacture, and flexibly assemble complex integrated vehicle structures and subsystems. Products created...
-
Opto-Mechanical Engineer
1 week ago
Torrance, CA, United States Divergent Enterprises Full timeDivergent is a technology company that has architected, invented, built, and commercialized an end-to-end factory system called the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) that comprehensively uses machine learning to optimally engineer, additively manufacture, and flexibly assemble complex integrated vehicle structures and subsystems. Products created...
-
Opto-Mechanical Engineer
2 weeks ago
Torrance, CA, United States Divergent Enterprises Full timeDivergent is a technology company that has architected, invented, built, and commercialized an end-to-end factory system called the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) that comprehensively uses machine learning to optimally engineer, additively manufacture, and flexibly assemble complex integrated vehicle structures and subsystems. Products created...
-
Mechanical Engineer
4 days ago
Torrance, CA, United States Arc Boat Company Full timeWhat we're building Our vision is to electrify all waterborne vessels, and we're expanding on our success in the recreational market with commercial harborcraft. Gas boats dominate today's marine industry not because of great product offerings but because of a lack of better alternatives. Boaters have grown accustomed to vehicles that feel stuck in the...
-
Mechanical Engineer
7 days ago
Torrance, CA, United States Arc Boat Company Full timeWhat we're building Our vision is to electrify all waterborne vessels, and we're expanding on our success in the recreational market with commercial harborcraft. Gas boats dominate today's marine industry not because of great product offerings but because of a lack of better alternatives. Boaters have grown accustomed to vehicles that feel stuck in the...
-
Future Opportunities
1 week ago
Torrance, CA, United States Epirus Full timeAbout Epirus Epirus is a high-growth technology company dedicated to overcoming the asymmetric challenges inherent to the future of national security. Epirus' flagship product, Leonidas, is a software-defined system built using intelligent power management techniques which allow power-hungry systems to do more with less. At Epirus, we're always looking...
-
Future Opportunities
2 weeks ago
Torrance, CA, United States Epirus Full timeAbout Epirus Epirus is a high-growth technology company dedicated to overcoming the asymmetric challenges inherent to the future of national security. Epirus' flagship product, Leonidas, is a software-defined system built using intelligent power management techniques which allow power-hungry systems to do more with less. At Epirus, we're always looking...
