Senior/Staff Mechanical Engineer

About the Company

Our client is an advanced manufacturing company developing next-generation systems for industries where precision, performance, and production flexibility are critical. The company combines mechanical engineering, automation, software, and advanced manufacturing technologies to develop production systems capable of manufacturing highly complex components and structures.

The engineering team works on internally developed manufacturing equipment as well as the technologies and systems surrounding it. This is a highly hands-on environment where engineers are expected to take ownership of complex hardware, move quickly from concept to working prototypes, and stay involved through testing, integration, productionization, and deployment.

The Role

They are looking for a Senior/Staff Mechanical Engineer to own the development of complex mechanical systems for an internally developed laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing platform, as well as future generations of the technology and related equipment.

This is a full-cycle mechanical engineering role. You will be responsible for taking significant mechanical systems or subsystems from an ambiguous problem through requirements, architecture, detailed design, prototyping, testing, release, and machine integration.

You will serve as the technical owner for the systems you lead, making engineering decisions across performance, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, cost, schedule, and technical risk. The work is not limited to CAD—you'll be expected to get hands-on with prototypes and equipment, troubleshoot problems, work through design iterations, and collaborate directly with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, suppliers, and other engineering disciplines.

The strongest candidates will have experience independently developing complex capital equipment or mechanical systems, particularly where they have taken a system or major subsystem from an early concept through working hardware and release.

What You'll Own

• Take ownership of major mechanical systems and design efforts from initial problem definition and requirements through detailed design, prototype development, testing, release, and machine integration.
• Translate technical and operational requirements into practical mechanical architectures, system interfaces, constraints, and measurable acceptance criteria.
• Develop mechanical concepts and production-ready designs using 3D CAD, engineering drawings, GD&T, tolerance analysis, engineering calculations, component selection, and bills of material.
• Apply mechanical engineering fundamentals across structures, mechanisms, precision motion, fluid systems, thermal management, sealing, enclosures, and machine integration.
• Evaluate competing design approaches and make informed decisions around performance, reliability, safety, manufacturability, serviceability, cost, schedule, and technical risk.
• Identify potential design and integration issues early and determine the appropriate combination of analysis, prototyping, testing, and design iteration needed to resolve them.
• Work directly with prototypes and equipment during assembly, integration, validation, troubleshooting, and design refinement.
• Coordinate technical work across mechanical, electrical, controls, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, suppliers, and other stakeholders.
• Communicate technical decisions, risks, issues, progress, and required actions clearly while maintaining ownership of the underlying engineering problems.
• Maintain thorough technical documentation and manage engineering changes through release and downstream activities such as procurement, manufacturing planning, validation, and deployment.
• Support machine-level troubleshooting and investigations across deployed equipment, distinguishing isolated failures from broader design or reliability issues.
• Turn test results and field or fleet findings into lasting design improvements and priorities for future machine development.
• Contribute to the architecture and modularization of current and future machine platforms, with an emphasis on reusable designs and scalable hardware.
• Support supplier and contract-manufacturing readiness and the transition of new hardware toward production.
• Provide technical guidance through design reviews and mentor other engineers on mechanical design and engineering decisions.

What You'll Need

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Demonstrated experience independently developing complex mechanical systems from concept through detailed design, build, test, and release.
• Strong experience owning mechanical systems or major subsystems rather than focusing exclusively on individual components.
• Advanced proficiency in 3D CAD, engineering drawings, GD&T, tolerance analysis, component selection, and design for manufacturability and assembly.
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals with the ability to apply them across multidisciplinary and unfamiliar technical problems.
• Ability to take ambiguous technical or operational needs and turn them into practical mechanical designs.
• Experience making engineering decisions when requirements, technical information, or constraints are incomplete or still evolving.
• Hands-on experience building prototypes and integrating, testing, troubleshooting, and iterating on mechanical equipment.
• Ability to lead technical work across multiple engineering and operational functions with limited supervision.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to clearly explain technical decisions, risks, tradeoffs, and status to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience providing technical guidance, conducting design reviews, or mentoring other engineers.
• Ability and willingness to work hands-on around industrial equipment and occasionally lift or carry up to approximately 25 lbs.
• Ability to lawfully access information and technology subject to U.S. export-control requirements.
• Willingness to work fully on-site across office, laboratory, prototype-build, and manufacturing environments.

Nice to Have

• Experience with laser powder bed fusion or other additive manufacturing technologies.
• Background developing industrial automation, robotics, advanced manufacturing equipment, or other complex capital equipment.
• Experience with Siemens NX and Teamcenter.
• Experience designing precision mechanisms, motion systems, fluid systems, thermal systems, vacuum systems, structural assemblies, or industrial machine enclosures.
• Experience developing an entirely new machine platform or major subsystem through prototype development, verification, productionization, or commissioning.
• Experience taking complex hardware through engineering change control and configuration management.
• Experience collaborating directly with suppliers or contract manufacturers to qualify and release production hardware.
• Experience working on equipment where mechanical, electrical, controls, software, and manufacturing systems must be tightly integrated.

Work Environment

This is an on-site, hands-on engineering role spanning traditional engineering work, laboratory environments, prototype builds, and manufacturing floors.

 

Location: Los Angeles Metropolitan Area 

 

The position involves regular interaction with industrial equipment and may involve moving machinery, elevated noise, metal powders, inert gas systems, lasers, and high-power electrical equipment. Appropriate PPE and environmental, health, and safety procedures are required.

Some schedule flexibility and occasional travel may be necessary during critical design builds, integration, testing, commissioning, or production ramp activities.

Compensation

The company is considering candidates at both the Senior and Staff Engineer levels, with final leveling and compensation determined through the interview process.

• Senior Engineer: $128,520 – $185,130 base salary
• Staff Engineer: $155,540 – $213,840 base salary

The role also offers a comprehensive benefits package and the opportunity to work on highly advanced manufacturing technology from early-stage development through production deployment.