About the Role Join a small defense technology engineering team developing autonomous, field-deployed directed energy systems. As Principal Mechanical Engineer, you will own system-level mechanical architecture and help take complex hardware from prototype through production and deployment. What You'll Do • Lead mechanical architecture across the system and integrate it with electrical, power, embedded, and optics disciplines. • Make technical decisions on challenging engineering problems from concept through production readiness. • Guide hardware release and production processes in close collaboration with the manufacturing team. • Identify technical risks early and review designs, analyses, documentation, and release standards. • Perform hands-on design and analysis when your experience can resolve difficult problems quickly. • Balance cost, mass, reliability, schedule, and field performance in design and manufacturing decisions. • Share technical judgment and mentor engineers through direct collaboration and example. What We're Looking For • At least 10 years of experience designing and shipping complex hardware systems. • Mechanical design as your primary discipline, including recent personal CAD and engineering analysis work. • Repeated experience taking hardware from prototype through manufacturing and field deployment. • Experience designing ruggedized systems for real-world conditions and correlating FEA or hand calculations with test data. • Strong mechanical expertise, with sound technical judgment in electrical engineering, power electronics, or embedded systems. • Experience owning mechanical architecture and integrating multiple engineering disciplines. • A senior individual contributor or technical lead background at a hardware company that has shipped products. • Relevant backgrounds may include defense, aerospace, high-performance automotive, maritime, robotics, or directed energy. • Experience with lasers or high-power systems, thermal management, gimbals or beam directors, military qualification standards, or production line development is useful. Compensation & Benefits Base salary is $235,000 to $305,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is not available. Equity and benefits details were not provided. Location This is an on-site role in San Francisco, California, United States.