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Havoc AI, founded in 2024 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, is a leader in all-domain collaborative autonomy. The company develops software-defined hardware for military and commercial autonomous systems across sea, air, and land platforms.
You will serve as Senior Mechanical Engineer leading the technical maturation of Locust, an advanced unmanned aircraft system (UAS), as it transitions from prototype to Department of Defense fieldable, Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) platform. This is a hands-on engineering leadership role combining design authority with program leadership to keep production on schedule and within budget.
Key responsibilities include designing mechanical components, assemblies, structures, and mechanisms for unmanned aerial systems using 3D CAD. You will own designs from initial requirements through prototype, test, iteration, and production release. You'll build and assemble prototype vehicles, work directly with machine shops and fabrication vendors, develop engineering drawings and manufacturing documentation, and perform structural, load, thermal, vibration, and tolerance analysis.
You will design lightweight structures balancing strength, stiffness, manufacturability, cost, and weight. You'll develop and execute mechanical test plans, conduct structural and environmental testing, diagnose failures, and implement design improvements. You'll support flight testing and vehicle-level integration while working closely with electrical, embedded, autonomy, controls, manufacturing, and test engineers. Design for manufacturability, assembly, serviceability, and field repair is essential. You'll participate directly in vehicle builds, troubleshooting, test campaigns, and engineering validation.
Required qualifications: BS or MS in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering; 3+ years mechanical product development experience; strong 3D CAD and mechanical design skills; demonstrated experience taking hardware from concept through prototype and testing; hands-on experience assembling, modifying, troubleshooting, and testing electromechanical systems; strong understanding of mechanical design fundamentals including materials, fasteners, tolerancing, structures, and manufacturing processes; experience designing parts for CNC machining, sheet metal, composites, or additive manufacturing; experience developing test fixtures and executing mechanical validation testing; ability to independently troubleshoot hardware failures and drive design changes.
Preferred qualifications include direct experience designing or developing UAVs, drones, UAS, aircraft, robotics, or autonomous vehicles; experience with small or Group 1–3 unmanned aircraft; experience with airframes, propulsion integration, payload integration, landing systems, or flight-control hardware; experience with composite structures; experience transitioning prototype designs into low-rate or production manufacturing.
