Staff Mechanical Engineer

About SiFly Aviation

At SiFly, we're building a new category of aircraft: vertical-takeoff, long-endurance drones that deliver helicopter-level performance at drone economics. After thousands of flight tests and years of engineering, our NDAA-compliant platform flies more than 2 hours in hover or 3 hours in forward flight on a single charge—matching the capability of traditional helicopters at a fraction of their cost and operational burden.

We merge aerial robotics, perception, and onboard intelligence to cut complexity and minimize human intervention, and our unique approach to communications and networking unlocks remote operations from day one. It's an ambitious mission, and we're a small team that moves fast.

The role

We’re hiring a Staff Mechanical Engineer to lead the mechanical design of one of our next-generation autonomous UAV products. This is a hands-on lead role: you’ll prototype and design in-house, guide changes through field flight testing, and drive the product into manufacturing as we scale up production in our Santa Clara facility.

You’ll own complex electromechanical systems from early concept through scaled production and real-world deployment, working with a small, fast-moving team. Direct UAV/drone experience is a huge plus, but we’ll seriously consider the right background paired with genuine curiosity and a drive to learn.

What you’ll do

• Own the design of assemblies and systems for a next-generation autonomous aircraft—taking ideas from concept through installation on flying units.

• Design and improve drone subsystems and highly integrated electromechanical assemblies, balancing trade-offs across performance and weight.

• Prototype hands-on in our Santa Clara shop.

• Guide designs through field flight testing; use real flight data to drive design changes and back your recommendations.

• Take products beyond the prototype into medium-volume production, designing for manufacturability across composite, injection-molded, and machined parts.

• Produce detailed engineering drawings for fabrication and assembly, and design fixtures for assembly and test.

• Collaborate closely with the Electrical, Software, Integration, Test, Manufacturing, Operations, and Supply Chain teams throughout every stage of design.

What we're looking for

• A background in mechanical systems, with an understanding of structural mechanics, heat transfer, and wind/fluid dynamics.

• Experience designing composite, injection-molded plastic, and machined parts—particularly taking products from prototype into medium-volume production.

• Familiarity across manufacturing technologies: additive, subtractive, vacuum forming, injection molding, and more.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, and the ability to work on several projects simultaneously.

• First-principles thinking and a drive to understand the "why" behind traditional approaches to propulsion, power systems, and even radio technologies.

• Experience using Fusion 360 for collaborative CAD work.

• A desire to test changes on real flying units and make recommendations grounded in flight data.

Nice to have

• Aerospace, consumer, or automotive hardware experience.

• Experience with carbon fiber composite structures and aerodynamic structures, and an understanding of design for weight.

• Experience with robotics and highly integrated electromechanical assemblies under system-level constraints.

• Experience with cameras and optics systems—we're developing some interesting payloads.

Details

• Onsite in Santa Clara, CA.

• Small team, high ownership, and a lot of hands-on prototyping in our shop.