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Salary: USD 140,000 - 176,000 / annual
CHAOS Industries is a defense technology company founded in 2022 and backed by $1 billion in funding from investors including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company develops a multi-product portfolio powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™) for warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams.
You will support hands-on design, development, packaging, integration, and qualification of ruggedized sensor systems, avionics, electronic hardware, and mission-critical systems for dual-use aerospace and defense applications. This role spans the full product lifecycle from concept development and architecture through detailed design, analysis, prototyping, qualification testing, production, fielding, and sustainment.
Key responsibilities include:
- Design ruggedized electronic hardware, sensor systems, avionics, enclosures, structures, mechanisms, and support equipment per program requirements and applicable standards
- Develop and maintain 3D CAD models, complex assemblies, detailed drawings, installation documentation, and interface control documents (ICDs)
- Own design and documentation of assigned components, assemblies, and mechanical subsystems
- Track and manage size, weight, and mechanical allocations for electronic assemblies and integrated hardware
- Perform first-order structural and thermal analyses, hand calculations, requirements analysis, and design verification activities
- Support prototype fabrication, assembly, mechanical integration, testing, qualification, fit-check, installation, alignment, and troubleshooting
- Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, RF, power, manufacturing, systems engineering, customers, suppliers, and platform providers to resolve integration challenges
- Support make/buy evaluations, production transition, Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA), configuration control, fielding, and sustainment
- Participate in design reviews, failure investigations, and technical decision-making activities
Design challenges span structures, enclosures, mechanisms, electromechanical hardware, thermal solutions, and support equipment deployed across land-, sea-, and air-based platforms.
This is a full-time, on-site position in El Segundo, CA.
REQUIREMENTS:
Minimum:
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline
- 4+ years of relevant experience in mechanical design and integration of electronic hardware for aerospace, defense, or similar applications
- Strong proficiency with mechanical CAD tools (SolidWorks or equivalent), including complex parts and assemblies
- Experience producing and reviewing production-ready mechanical drawings and documentation
- Understanding of mechanical interfaces, tolerancing, alignment, installation practices, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and configuration-controlled documentation
- Experience designing or integrating mechanical hardware for RF, avionics, power electronics, embedded computing, or similar products
- Familiarity with structural analysis methods, including hand calculations and FEA
- Experience supporting prototype builds, integration, testing, or qualification activities
- Familiarity with ruggedized hardware and applicable environmental requirements
- Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and ability to work effectively in fast-paced, multi-disciplinary development environments
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance
Preferred:
- Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field
- Experience supporting environmental qualification testing and analysis (thermal cycling, vibration, shock)
- Experience with commercial FEA or multiphysics simulation tools (NASTRAN, ABAQUS, ANSYS, COMSOL, or similar)
- Familiarity with military and aerospace standards (MIL-STD-810)
- Familiarity with military and aerospace connectors (MIL-DTL-38999, ARINC, Micro-D)
- Experience with mechanisms, actuation systems, structures, thermal management, packaging, cable routing, connector layouts, or electromechanical integration
- Experience with additive manufacturing, CNC machining, fabrication, assembly, and prototype development
- Hands-on experience with machine shop and prototype lab equipment
