Principal / Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

About Us:
STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionizing the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop and manufacture high performance unmanned systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost effective. This provides our operators with a decisive edge in highly contested environments.

We’re focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems - not future promises. In a time of rising threats, STARK is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe - today.

Your mission:
As our Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, you will own the mechanical architecture of STARK’s next-generation UAV platforms from concept to high-rate production. You will set technical direction, mentor engineers, and work closely with cross-functional teams to deliver highly reliable, certifiable, and field-deployable systems under aggressive timelines.

You will both define mechanical design strategy and dive deep into CAD, tolerance stacks, and Design for Manufacture/Assembly (DFMA) prototypes. You will act as the company’s authority on mechanical design for airframes and payload integration, influencing platform-level decisions and ensuring designs are robust, scalable, cost-effective for mass production, and certifiable.

Responsibilities:
• Lead mechanical design for UK current and future UAV platforms
• Define and enforce best practices for parametric modeling, GD&T, and tolerance stack-ups
• Drive airframe material selection, structural layout, and manufacturability decisions
• Oversee supplier engagement for structural components, composites, and assemblies
Collaborate with stress, flight test, and systems teams to ensure structural integrity
• Support and occasionally lead design reviews with leadership, partners, and certifying authorities
• Lead mechanical design for UK current and future UAV platforms, focusing on design-for-manufacture (DFM) and high-rate production methods
• Define and enforce best practices for parametric modeling, GD&T, and tolerance stack-ups, with an emphasis on production efficiency
• Collaborate with stress, flight test, and systems teams to ensure structural integrity while optimising designs for mass production
• Support and occasionally lead design reviews with leadership, partners, and certifying authorities, presenting trade-offs for production scale
• Be hands-on with CAD (SolidWorks/CATIA), prototyping, and shop-floor troubleshooting, with a focus on process and design optimization for rate increase

Qualifications:
• Mechanical design experience, in ideally in aerospace / UAV / autonomous systems 

• Proven record of taking structures from concept through verification to high rate production (wing, fuselage, empennage)

• Expert in SolidWorks (CATIA V5/V6 a plus) and tolerance stack analysis

• Strong knowledge of composites, 3D printing, machining, injection moulding, and joining methods

• Familiarity with MIL standards and EASA/FAA certification pathways (SC-Light UAS, CS-23)

• Excellent communication skills  - able to influence at exec and program level

• Eligible for UK Security Clearance