Senior Mechanical Engineer

SENIOR MECHANICAL ENGINEER

Mesh Optical Technologies was founded on the belief that optical photons will be at the center of advanced technologies in the coming century. Making advanced technology ubiquitous means building at scale, and that’s exactly what we’re doing at Mesh.

We are seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer to lead development of major mechanical subsystems across our optical hardware platform. This is a senior individual contributor role reserved for engineers who demonstrate exceptional technical depth, ownership, and execution capability. You will independently drive complex mechanical challenges from first principles through production ramp, influencing subsystem architecture and ensuring performance, reliability, and manufacturability. Senior Mechanical Engineers at Mesh are trusted to solve ambiguous, high-impact problems and set the technical standard for mechanical design within their scope.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Independently own mechanical development of major subsystems from concept through production, including requirements definition, design, analysis, prototyping, and ramp support
• Design precision electro-mechanical assemblies with rigorous tolerance control across optical, electrical, and mechanical interfaces
• Perform and defend structural, thermal, and tolerance analysis to drive design decisions, validate performance margins, and support design reviews
• Drive design-for-manufacturability and design-for-automation decisions with minimal oversight, ensuring mechanical designs support automated assembly, precision placement, and high-yield production
• Lead supplier technical discussions, component qualification, and production ramp execution, including resolution of supplier-side manufacturing issues
• Identify mechanical risks early and define validation strategies to retire them, including test fixture specification and prototype validation planning
• Contribute meaningfully to system-level architecture discussions, influencing packaging strategy, interface definitions, and cross-domain trade-offs with optical, electrical, and thermal stakeholders
• Establish and maintain mechanical design documentation, including detailed drawings with GD&T, specifications, and engineering change records
• Support root-cause investigation of mechanical failures across prototype, validation, and production stages, driving corrective action back into design guidelines

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in mechanical engineering or a related discipline
• 5+ years of experience designing complex hardware systems, with demonstrated exceptional individual contributor capability in production hardware environments
• Proven ownership of major subsystems through production ramp, including direct accountability for performance, schedule, and manufacturability outcomes
• Strong first-principles foundation in mechanics of materials, heat transfer, and tolerance analysis
• Experience designing tight-tolerance precision assemblies with multi-domain interfaces
• Proficiency in professional 3D CAD tools (NX, SolidWorks, Creo, or equivalent)
• Proficiency in structural or thermal analysis tools (e.g., ANSYS Mechanical or equivalent FEA)
• Experience working directly with suppliers and driving technical decisions through component qualification and production readiness
• Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as needed

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:

• Experience in optical, photonic, semiconductor, or high-performance computing hardware development
• Advanced simulation experience, including thermal analysis (e.g., ANSYS Icepak, Fluent, or equivalent CFD tools)
• Experience designing hardware for highly automated manufacturing environments, including familiarity with robotic assembly, precision fixturing, and in-line metrology constraints
• Experience with optomechanical design, including kinematic mounting, athermalization, or fiber-to-chip alignment
• Experience with materials selection for photonic or semiconductor-adjacent applications, including CTE matching, outgassing, and cleanliness considerations
• Familiarity with reliability qualification methodologies (e.g., HALT, HASS, or Telcordia-style environmental testing)
• Experience with configuration management, revision control, and PLM tools

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Pay range: 
Senior Mechanical Engineer: $140,000.00 - $180,000.00/per year

Title and base salary are determined on a case by case basis commensurate with experience and merit.

In addition to base salary, compensation for this role includes:

• Eligibility for long-term incentives including company stock options and discretionary bonuses awarded for exceptional achievements.
• Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental insurance with significant cost covered by the company for yourself and dependents.
• Paid parental leave and flexible PTO (3 weeks accrued vacation and 10 company holidays per year).
• 401(k) retirement plan access.
• Relocation assistance to sunny Los Angeles.