Senior Mechanical Engineer

Location: Onsite in Brussels, Belgium 

About our client

Sphere Defense is a fully funded technology startup with the mission of providing allied countries with sovereign, effective and seamless autonomous countermeasures to neutralize todays’ and tomorrow’s aerial threats.  

Sphere Defense was founded by industry veterans with previous successful exits, and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the heart of Europe. 

Who we look for and what you’ll do 

You are an experienced and highly-motivated Mechanical Design Engineer that has worked with high-speed, small-scale flying vehicles (ideally VTOL drones). You are familiar with electro-mechanical systems, composite materials, aerodynamics, flight control surfaces and mid-volume production.  

You will own the mechanical design of our countermeasure, define the manufacturing technologies and ensure a smooth transition from internal R&D to external production partners.  

• Be one of the first members of a high-performing team, designing and developing autonomous countermeasures to protect allied countries from aerial threats 

• Design, develop, prototype and test flying vehicles for flight performance, vibration resistance, reliability 

• Calculate tolerances, stress and buffers to ensure the correct balance between cost, durability and performance 

• Identify the right materials and production techniques for different parts of the vehicles 

• Identify and interface with external prototype and production partners 

• Work closely with the electrical engineering team for E/M co-design 

• Identify and work closely with simulation partners for FEA/CFD 

• Ensure the designs adhere to the industrial quality standards by drafting test plans and working with test houses for validation and certification 

• Draft production-level documentation, including GD&T, during the entire product lifecycle 

• Be a team player and a mentor, being available to support and grow the team 

Requirements 

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent 

• Demonstrated experience in the role, bringing products from conception to production with mid-volume production 

• Proficiency with SolidWorks or other established CAD packages 

• Experience with composite materials and at least two among: plastic injection, thermoforming, metal stamping 

• Experience with medium-scale, integrated electro-mechanical systems (actuators, sensors, flex circuits mechanical outlines, wiring harnesses, electrical connections, etc.) 

• Experience in creating and maintaining production-ready documentation (technical drawings, assembly diagrams, etc.) 

• Hands-on, with demonstrated ability in quickly prototyping mechanical systems  

• Ability to execute incoming inspection and dimensional accuracy checks on golden samples 

Preferred Qualifications 

• First-hand expertise with CFD and/or FEA  

• Experience with CAM programs for manufacturing with CNC and lathe machines 

• Experience with electro-optical systems 

• Experience setting up in-house prototyping labs 

• Experience tutoring operators for incoming quality inspection 

What we offer 

We are building a core team of hard-working people. If you want to join a company with tremendous impact and you are autonomous, creative and driven, we want to hear from you!  

Sphere Defense offers attractive compensation, stock options (depending on geography and position) and a unique opportunity to change the global defense landscape. 

The candidate needs to possess right to work in Belgium/EU.