Principal Mechanical Engineer

RTX RTX · Aerospace · goleta, CA +1 · Engineering

Principal Mechanical Engineer role focused on leading the mechanical development of airborne RF and digital electronics subsystems from concept through production, serving as a technical authority, and ensuring performance in demanding environments. Requires experience in electronics packaging, GD&T, 3D modeling, and environmental qualifications.

What you'd actually do

  1. Lead the mechanical development of airborne RF and digital electronics subsystems from concept through production.
  2. Serve as the mechanical technical authority (REA/IPTL) on assigned programs, ensuring alignment to technical, cost, and schedule objectives.
  3. Own subsystem-level mechanical solutions, ensuring performance in demanding thermal and high-vibration environments.
  4. Collaborate cross-functionally with Electrical, Systems, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams to deliver integrated hardware solutions.
  5. Represent the mechanical discipline in internal and external design reviews and customer engagements.

Skills

Required

  • Degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) and a minimum of 8 years of prior relevant experience or an advanced degree in a related field and minimum 5 years’ experience
  • Designing and developing electronics packaging solutions for high-reliability systems
  • Applying Geometric Dimension Tolerance (GD&T) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) drawing standards to production hardware
  • 3D solid modeling tools (Creo/Pro/Engineer or similar) for mechanical design and documentation
  • Supporting hardware through environmental qualifications (e.g., vibration, shock, thermal)

Nice to have

  • Experience with Electronic Warfare (EW), radar, RF subsystems, or airborne electronics
  • Experience serving as a subsystem lead, REA, IPTL, or similar technical authority role
  • Experience with thermal and structural analysis methods for electronics hardware
  • Experience with CCA/PCB integration, cabling and harness design, or RF isolation features
  • Experience managing cost and schedule elements of engineering scope (e.g., EVM exposure)
  • Experience supporting design reviews (PDR, CDR, TRR) and presenting technical data to customers
  • Experience developing proposals, including Basis of Estimates (BOEs) or technical volume contributions
  • Experience performing root cause investigations and implementing corrective actions in production environments

What the JD emphasized

  • U.S. government issued security clearance is required
  • U.S. citizenship is required
  • Active and existing security clearance required after day 1