Senior Design Engineer (Aerospace & Defense Hardware)

About this role

<h2 id="Senior-Mechanical-Engineer" data-renderer-start-pos="9649"><strong data-renderer-mark="true"><span class="TextRun SCXW130542368 BCX0" lang="EN-US" data-contrast="auto"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW130542368 BCX0">SENIOR DESIGN ENGINEER (AEROSPACE & DEFENSE HARDWARE)</span></span></strong></h2> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal"></p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal">Freeform builds AI-native manufacturing systems that unify software, hardware, and physics to produce industrial-scale parts at the speed of human ideation. By treating manufacturing as a single integrated system, we unlock a new era of innovation where complex hardware is designed, built, and scaled without limits.</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal">Freeform is hiring a Senior Design Engineer focused on aerospace & defense hardware to sit at the intersection of advanced part design and additive manufacturing. This is a deeply technical senior engineering role responsible for rethinking how aerospace and defense hardware is conceived, designed, and produced - not just adapting existing parts for a new process, but fundamentally reimagining what's possible when legacy design constraints no longer apply. You will own complex design challenges end-to-end, working hands-on with some of the most complex hardware in the industry, and serve as a technical authority on where Freeform's platform unlocks performance regimes, architectures, and geometries that were previously impractical or impossible.</p> <p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal">The ideal candidate is a highly experienced mechanical or aerospace engineer with deep intuition for part design, a genuine passion for pushing the boundaries of what hardware can do, and a track record of leading technical work on complex hardware programs. They understand aerospace and defense systems at a component and systems level, can independently drive and mentor others on manufacturability, materials, and performance tradeoffs, and are excited by the creative challenge of designing parts from first principles. The core draw of this role is the engineering itself - <span class="NormalTextRun SCXW149444359 BCX0">though this person will also engage directly with some of the most sophisticated </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW149444359 BCX0">frontier companies in the </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW149444359 BCX0">aerospace and defense industr</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW149444359 BCX0">ies</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW149444359 BCX0">.</span></p> <p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sXfG6ssZ190?feature=shared" width="560" height="315"></iframe></p> <p><strong><span data-contrast="auto">Responsibilities:</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"> </span></p> <ul> <li><span data-contrast="auto">Drive part design and redesign across a broad range of aerospace and defense hardware, including:</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":0,"335551620":0}"> </span> <ul> <li><span data-contrast="auto">Propulsion systems</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":0,"335551620":0}"> </span></li> <li><span data-contrast="auto">Heat exchangers and thermal management hardware</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":0,"335551620":0}"> </span></li> <li><span data-contrast="auto">Valves and fluid systems</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":0,"335551620":0}"> </span></li> <li><span data-contrast="auto">Turbomachinery components</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":0,"335551620":0}"> </span></li> <li><span data-contrast="auto">Combustion devices</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":0,"335551620":0}"> </span></li> <li><span data-contrast="auto">Lightweight structural components and assemblies</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":0,"335551620":0}"> </span></li> </ul> </li> <li><span data-contrast="auto">Develop and own deep component-level understanding of requirements, performance drivers, and system constraints within aerospace and defense programs</span><span data-ccp-props="{"335551550":0,"335551620":0}"> </span></li> <li><span data-contrast="auto">Lead first-principles part redesigns, identifying where additive manufacturing enables new geometries, consolidated assemblies, improved performance, or reduced cost and lead time</span><span…