Senior Mechanical Engineer – Drone Development & Test

About the role

HavocAI is looking for a senior mechanical engineer to lead the technical maturation of its advanced unmanned aircraft system, Locust, as it moves from prototype to Department of Defense fieldable production. This hands‑on leadership role combines airframe design, structural analysis, and system integration while ensuring schedule and budget compliance.

Key responsibilities

• Design mechanical components, assemblies, structures, enclosures, mounts, and mechanisms for unmanned aerial systems.
• Develop concepts and detailed designs using 3D CAD, owning designs from requirements through prototype, test, iteration, and production release.
• Build and assemble prototype vehicles and subsystems; work directly with machine shops, fabrication vendors, and suppliers.
• Create engineering drawings, tolerances, interfaces, and manufacturing documentation.
• Perform engineering calculations including structural, load, thermal, vibration, tolerance, and basic mechanical analysis.
• Design lightweight structures balancing strength, stiffness, manufacturability, cost, and weight.
• Develop and execute mechanical test plans; conduct structural, vibration, environmental, durability, and system‑level testing.
• Diagnose mechanical failures and implement rapid corrective actions.

Required profile

• Senior‑level mechanical engineer with proven experience in drones, UAVs, robotics, or similar lightweight electromechanical platforms.
• Comfortable moving quickly between CAD design, vendor interaction, prototype assembly, and field testing.
• Strong leadership and program management skills to keep production efforts on schedule and within budget.

Required skills

• 3D CAD
• Mechanical design
• Structural analysis
• Load, thermal, vibration, and tolerance analysis
• Engineering drawings and manufacturing documentation
• Prototype assembly
• Test planning and execution (structural, vibration, environmental, durability)
• Failure diagnosis