Mechanical Engineering Manager

Zone 5 Technologies is seeking an experienced Mechanical Engineering Manager to lead out team of engineers in the design, analysis, and development of air vehicle mechanical hardware.  The successful candidate will oversee a mechanical engineering team, manage projects, promote design quality standards, and drive innovation in mechanical design and analysis.  This role requires strong leadership, technical expertise, and effective communication to deliver high-quality solutions in support of Zone 5's growing UAS development needs.  This position will work on-site in San Luis Obispo, CA at our Headquarters.

Position Summary 

As a Mechanical Engineering Manager, you will lead a team of engineers in designing, analyzing, and developing UAS mechanical solutions, ensuring compliance with industry standards and project requirements. You will also be a working manager, contributing at the individual mechanical engineering level as well as in a management capacity. Reporting to the Director of Hardware Engineering, you will lead one of several mechanical engineering teams, accountable for your team's people, quality, and execution from early concept work through design reviews and delivery, while partnering with peer managers to grow the discipline's shared methods, tools, and standards. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in mechanical engineering, strong leadership skills, and proficiency in tools like ANSYS and SolidWorks (preferred), with a focus on driving technical excellence and project success.

Responsibilities:

• Manage and grow a team of mechanical engineers — hiring, mentoring, professional development, and succession planning — fostering collaboration and innovation.
• Ensure the correct and consistent application of mechanical design methodologies, processes, tools, and standards within your team, and contribute to their continued development across the discipline.
• Ensure your engineers are trained, equipped, and supported to do high-quality work, and be accountable for the quality of your team's mechanical design, analysis, and documentation.
• Staff and balance your engineers across concept development efforts and program teams based on skills, availability, and development needs, in coordination with hardware leadership and peer managers.
• Contribute hands-on as a working manager — mechanical design, analysis, and test at the individual-contributor level.
• Support early concept development with feasibility assessments, initial sizing, and reuse-versus-new recommendations that put programs on sound technical footing.
• Review designs and analyses at milestone design reviews to confirm integrity and performance against approved requirements and design baselines.
• Uphold disciplined change management, ensuring departures from approved designs are reviewed and approved before implementation.
• Collaborate cross-functionally — systems, software, test, manufacturing, and supply chain — to integrate mechanical designs into complete air vehicles, and communicate technical requirements and progress to stakeholders.
• Capture lessons learned from completed programs and help fold them back into discipline processes, standards, and training.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field
• 7+ years of experience as a mechanical or structural engineer, including 2+ in a leadership or supervisory role
• Proficiency in CAD systems, including 3D modeling and drawing generation
• Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
• Design for Manufacturing (DFM)
• Proficiency in mechanical analysis methods and tools
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Effective communication and collaboration skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field 
• Experience with Group 1-4 UAS systems engineering 
• Direct experience and proficiency in mentoring and training junior engineers 
  
• Proficiency with SolidWorks