Senior Staff Mechanical Engineer

About this role

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with omniscient systems purpose-built for today’s realities. Designed and built by top U.S. military veterans and Silicon Valley innovators, CHAOS Industries’ 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. In a world where technological threats move at unprecedented speed, CHAOS Industries delivers advanced sensing and detection solutions that give the ultimate advantage: time.

Role Overview:

CHAOS is seeking a Senior Staff Mechanical Engineer to lead the design, development, packaging, integration, and qualification of ruggedized electronic hardware, sensor systems, avionics, and related mission-critical hardware for dual-use aerospace and defense applications. The ideal candidate brings strong hands-on mechanical design and CAD expertise, experience with complex assemblies and integrated systems, demonstrated prototyping and analysis skills, and the ability to work effectively within cross-disciplinary teams spanning mechanical, electrical, RF, power, manufacturing, and systems engineering.

Design challenges may include structures, enclosures, mechanisms, electromechanical hardware, thermal solutions, support equipment, and other mission-critical systems. The position spans the product lifecycle from concept development and architecture through detailed design, analysis, prototyping, qualification testing, production, and sustainment of fielded systems.

This is a full-time, on-site position in El Segundo, CA.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the design, development, packaging, and mechanical integration of ruggedized electronic hardware, sensor systems, avionics, structures, mechanisms, and related support equipment

• Own mechanical design responsibility for a subsystem, product area, or hardware integration effort, ensuring alignment with system-level requirements, mission needs, and program constraints

• Develop mechanical architectures and detailed designs subject to structural, thermal, environmental, manufacturability, installation, and operational requirements

• Develop and maintain 3D CAD models, large assemblies, detailed drawings, installation documentation, and interface control documents (ICDs), ensuring production-ready quality and configuration control

• Perform first-order structural and thermal analyses, hand calculations, requirements analysis and allocation, and design verification activities

• Provide technical guidance during system integration, qualification, acceptance, fit-check, installation, alignment, and troubleshooting activities

• Serve as a key technical hardware interface with customers, suppliers, manufacturing partners, and other cross-functional stakeholders

• Perform make/buy assessments and support prototype fabrication, assembly, production transition, configuration control, and fielded system sustainment

• Provide technical and career mentoring to less-experienced engineers and designers

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline

• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in mechanical design and integration of electronic hardware for aerospace, defense, or similar applications

• Strong proficiency with mechanical CAD tools, such as SolidWorks or equivalent, including complex assemblies and detailed design

• Experience producing and reviewing production-ready mechanical drawings and documentation

• Strong understanding of mechanical interfaces, tolerancing, alignment, installation practices, and interface control documents (ICDs)

• Familiarity with military and aerospace connectors (e.g., MIL-DTL-38999, ARINC, Micro-D)

• Strong understanding of mechanical drafting standards, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and configuration-controlled documentation

• Familiarity with structural analysis methods, including hand calculations and FEA

• Demonstrated experience designing or integrating ruggedized hardware and considering applicable environmental requirements

• Experience interpreting and applying military standards, such as MIL-STD-810 and related platform qualification requirements

• Proven ability to make sound mechanical design decisions and resolve complex integration challenges in collaboration with cross-disciplinary teams

• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to operate effectively in fast-paced, multi-disciplinary development environments

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance

Preferred Requirements:

• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field

• Prior experience serving as a lead mechanical engineer or technical authority on a program

• Experience with system-level requirements allocation, architecture trade studies, and mechanical subsystem definition

• Experience supporting environmental qualification testing and analysis (thermal cycling, vibration, shock)

• Experience with commercial FEA or multiphysics simulation tools, such as NASTRAN, ABAQUS, ANSYS, COMSOL, or similar tools

• Experience with mechanisms, actuation systems, structures, thermal management, packaging, cable routing, connector layouts, or electromechanical integration

• Experience with prototyping, additive manufacturing, CNC machining, fabrication, assembly, and transition to production

• Familiarity with aerospace, defense, military, or other ruggedized hardware standards and specifications

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…