Mechanical Engineer (m/w/d)

• Develop mechanical components and assemblies for HIGHCAT’s drones and supporting product ecosystem, from concept through series production.
• Develop injection-moulded plastic, bent sheet metal, and machined components with a strong focus on manufacturability.
• Integrate electronics, sensors, antennas, connectors, batteries, motors, cables, and other components into robust mechanical assemblies.
• Apply DFM and DFA principles to optimise part count, assembly, reliability, manufacturing cost, and production efficiency.
• Create production-ready 3D CAD, technical drawings, tolerances, and manufacturing documentation.
• Build, test, and iterate prototypes using 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, and other rapid manufacturing methods.
• Work directly with manufacturers and suppliers on tooling, DFM, first articles, quality, cost, and production ramp-up.
• Support the transition from prototypes and low-volume builds into stable, repeatable series production.
• Identify and resolve mechanical, assembly, tolerance, and manufacturing issues.
• Support mechanical testing, validation, failure analysis, and continuous product improvement.

• 5+ years of experience in mechanical engineering or hardware product development, ideally in drones, robotics, electronics, aerospace, mobility, or other complex hardware.
• Proven experience taking physical products from prototype through industrialisation into series production.
• Strong hands-on experience with injection-moulded plastic parts and a solid understanding of tooling and injection-moulding DFM.
• Experience developing bent sheet metal components and understanding their manufacturing constraints.
• Strong 3D CAD skills and experience with production-ready technical drawings and tolerancing.
• Good understanding of engineering materials, manufacturing processes, fastening methods, and assembly techniques.
• You understand DFM/DFA and naturally consider manufacturing cost, part count, assembly time, tooling investment, and production volume when developing a product.
• You are comfortable working directly with suppliers and solving real manufacturing and production issues.
• You are a hands-on, independent engineer who enjoys building, testing, learning, and iterating quickly.
• Experience with GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, IP-rated enclosures, thermal management, vibration, shock, or FEA is a plus.

We offer

• Compensation and Ownership**: Competitive compensation with meaningful equity, giving you a real stake in the company you’re helping to build.
• Mission and Impact**: See your work become real products used in demanding environments where reliability and good engineering matter.
• Access and Influence**: A small, ambitious team with direct access to founders, engineers, and decision-makers—and real influence over the products we build.
• Culture and Environment**: A high-trust, low-bureaucracy environment where decisions move quickly, ownership is high, and strong work earns increasing responsibility.
• Resources and Engineering**: The freedom and tools to develop, prototype, manufacture, test, break, and improve hardware quickly.
• Professional Growth**: The opportunity to grow alongside an early-stage hardware company and help shape its products, engineering practices, and manufacturing capabilities.