Principal Mechanical Engineer

Neon Aero is breaking the mold. They move fast, think big, and combine startup agility with aerospace expertise to design, build, and scale aircraft components in ways the industry has never seen. The team leverages automation, AI-driven tools, and a fully connected digital backbone to accelerate innovation and drastically reduce barriers to production.

We’re looking for a Principal Mechanical Engineer who loves the hard stuff: ambiguous requirements, tight trade spaces, and high-performance hardware that has to work—every time, at scale. This is a deeply hands-on role for a senior technical expert who can architect and integrate complex mechanical systems, lead teams through critical decisions, and drive designs from concept to production with rigor and speed.

Why This Role Matters

You will build the mechanical backbone of our next-generation electromechanical platforms. While this role has no direct people management, it requires heavy technical leadership: setting the bar, owning system-level outcomes, and influencing across electrical, thermal, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain disciplines. Your work will directly support demanding systems across aerospace, transportation, robotics, and advanced mobility.

What You’ll Do (Key Contributions)

• Architect & Integrate: Own system-level mechanical architecture and integration for advanced, high-performance electromechanical platforms.
• Drive Production-Intent Design: Lead the design, analysis, prototyping, and production release of complex mechanical systems while driving DFM, DFA, Design for Automation, and Design for Cost.
• Enforce Technical Rigor: Set and enforce best-in-class standards for GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, and production drawing release.
• Execute Advanced Analysis: Apply advanced mechanical analysis (FEA, thermal, structural, dynamic) to validate performance and inform critical design decisions.
• Industrialize & Scale: Partner with suppliers to scale components across processes like sheet metal, die casting, precision gear manufacturing, and high-precision machining.
• Validate & Qualify: Oversee first article builds, production validation (yield improvement, root-cause resolution), and support environmental/reliability qualification (vibration, thermal, durability testing).
• Mentor & Guide: Mentor engineers through design reviews and tough technical problems—while staying close to the work and the hardware.

What You’ll Bring

• Experience: 12 years of proven experience developing, industrializing, and shipping complex, high-stakes mechanical systems.
• CAD Expertise: Expert proficiency in Siemens NX is strictly required.
• Quality & Scaling Depth: Proven track record taking products from concept to shipment with a strong understanding of quality systems and production metrics (IQC, OQC, ORT, Cp/Cpk, SPC).
• Manufacturing Mastery: Deep expertise in GD&T, tolerance analysis, and scaling hardware across multiple manufacturing technologies.
• Leadership through Influence: Demonstrated ability to lead high-level technical decisions across cross-functional teams through clarity, technical credibility, and collaboration.
• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent professional experience).

Apply to find out more