SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Salary: USD 167,000 - 209,000 / annual
CHAOS Industries is seeking a Staff Mechanical Engineer to lead hands-on design, development, packaging, integration, and qualification of ruggedized sensor systems, avionics, electronic hardware, and mission-critical systems for 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 performing mechanical design and integration of ruggedized electronic hardware, sensor systems, avionics, structures, mechanisms, and enclosures. You will own the mechanical design and integration of defined subsystems, product areas, or major assemblies, and perform trade studies to recommend paths forward. You'll develop and maintain 3D CAD models, assemblies, detailed drawings, installation documentation, and interface control documents (ICDs). Design work must address structural, thermal, environmental, manufacturability, installation, and operational requirements.
You will perform first-order structural and thermal analyses, hand calculations, requirements analysis, and design verification activities. You'll lead design reviews on owned designs and work collaboratively with mechanical, electrical, RF, power, manufacturing, systems engineering, customers, suppliers, and platform providers to resolve integration challenges. Additional responsibilities include supporting system integration, qualification, fit-check, installation, alignment, troubleshooting, prototype fabrication, assembly, and transition to production. You'll also support configuration control, make/buy evaluations, fielding, and sustainment of deployed systems, and mentor junior engineers.
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.
COMPANY CONTEXT: CHAOS Industries, founded in 2022, has raised $1 billion in funding from leading investors including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Washington D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London. CHAOS redefines modern defense with a multi-product portfolio powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams.
REQUIREMENTS:
Minimum:
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline
- 7+ 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 (SolidWorks or equivalent), including complex assemblies and detailed design
- Experience producing and reviewing production-ready mechanical drawings and documentation
- Understanding of mechanical interfaces, tolerancing, alignment, installation practices, and interface control documents (ICDs)
- Familiarity with military and aerospace connectors (MIL-DTL-38999, ARINC, Micro-D)
- Understanding of mechanical drafting standards, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and configuration-controlled documentation
- Familiarity with structural analysis methods, including hand calculations and FEA
- Experience designing or integrating ruggedized hardware and considering applicable environmental requirements
- Experience interpreting and applying military and aerospace standards, including MIL-STD-810
- Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to operate effectively in 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 mechanisms, actuation systems, structures, thermal management, packaging, cable routing, connector layouts, or electromechanical integration
- Experience with commercial FEA or multiphysics simulation tools (NASTRAN, ABAQUS, ANSYS, COMSOL, or similar)
- Experience with prototyping, additive manufacturing, CNC machining, fabrication, assembly, and production transition
- Familiarity with aerospace, defense, military, or other ruggedized hardware standards and specifications
