Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

Senior Mechanical Design Engineer - Airframe & Structures

Manna is building and operating the future of autonomous drone delivery. Our aircraft are designed, manufactured, tested, and operated in real world commercial environments, where reliability, safety, manufacturability, and performance matter every day.

What You'll Do

• Lead the design and development of structural and general mechanical systems for Manna's aircraft platforms.
• Own mechanical design work from concept through CAD, analysis, prototype build, test, design release, and production support.
• Design airframe structures, brackets, interfaces, mechanisms, enclosures, and integrated mechanical systems.
• Analyze structures under static, dynamic, vibration, fatigue, thermal, and operational loading conditions.
• Use CAD, FEA, CFD, hand calculations, and test data to make clear engineering decisions.
• Drive lightweight, robust, manufacturable design solutions that meet aircraft level performance and safety requirements.
• Apply DFM/DFA principles across machined parts, sheet metal, composites, moulded components, additive parts, and assemblies.
• Conduct tolerance analysis and apply GD&T to ensure repeatable, production ready designs.
• Develop and support mechanical test plans, DVPs, test rigs, validation builds, and data analysis.
• Work closely with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, electrical engineering, software, test, and operations teams to resolve system level challenges.
• Support suppliers and manufacturing partners to ensure parts are scalable, cost effective, and production ready.
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions for mechanical issues found during build, test, or operation.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to stronger design standards, better reviews, and improved engineering practices.

What We're Looking For

• 7+ years of experience in mechanical design, ideally with a focus on structures, airframes, aerospace, robotics, automotive, or complex electromechanical systems.
• Strong 3D CAD capability using tools such as 3DExperience, CATIA, SolidWorks, NX, Creo, or equivalent.
• Strong understanding of structural design, materials, load paths, stiffness, strength, fatigue, vibration, and mechanical robustness.
• Experience using FEA, CFD, thermal analysis, hand calculations, and physical test data to validate designs.
• Experience designing parts and assemblies for real manufacturing processes, including CNC machining, sheet metal, composites, injection moulding, additive manufacturing, or production assembly.
• Strong knowledge of tolerance analysis, GD&T, engineering drawings, BOMs, and release documentation.
• Hands on experience with prototyping, test rig development, environmental testing, vibration testing, or mechanical validation.
• Ability to work across disciplines and understand mechanical interfaces with electrical systems, manufacturing processes, software constraints, and aircraft level requirements.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain technical decisions, trade offs, risks, and recommendations clearly.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast moving hardware development environment.

Nice to Have

• Experience in drones, aerospace, aviation, robotics, or another safety critical hardware environment.
• Experience with airframe design, lightweight structures, composite structures, propulsion integration, or aircraft environmental protection.
• Familiarity with aerospace standards, environmental test standards, or regulated product development.
• Experience supporting products through prototype, validation, design release, and production ramp.
• Experience mentoring engineers or leading technical workstreams.

What Success Looks Like

You will be successful in this role if you can turn complex aircraft level problems into simple, robust mechanical designs; support those designs with sound analysis and test evidence; and work effectively with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and operations to get them built and flying reliably.

This role is ideal for a senior engineer who wants real ownership, high technical challenge, and the opportunity to help shape the next generation of autonomous aircraft.