As a Mechanical Hardware Engineer, you will lead mechanical design and integration of avionics hardware for Prime Air drones. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams - including propulsion, structures, firmware, software, safety, certification, production - to design, develop, and implement mechanical solutions at the hardware level and meet the highest standards of safety and reliability at the drone level.
This role requires strong mechanical design knowledge, expertise, ownership, and judgement to balance cost, reliability, manufacturability and serviceability.
Key job responsibilities
- Design mechanical hardware, assemblies, fixtures, or test equipment for avionics hardware.
- Create and release 3D models, drawings, specifications, and other engineering documentation.
- Perform engineering analysis and calculations to support design decisions and verify performance.
- Develop and execute tests to characterize mechanical hardware, validate designs, and investigate failures.
- Participate in design reviews and communicate technical decisions, risks, and tradeoffs.
- Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Reliability (DFR) with fabrication, assembly, and qualification vendors.
- Drive manufacturing, in-service, and reliability initiatives for avionics hardware in production.
- Troubleshoot hardware issues using data and first-principles engineering.
- Support hardware development from early prototype through qualification, production, and flight stages.
- Work directly with engineers, technicians, machinists, suppliers, and other partners.
- Develop increasing technical ownership of hardware and engineering decisions as experience grows.
A day in the life
Our team is empowered to assess, judge, decide and move between analysis, design, and validation challenges with bias to action. The goal is to make sound engineering decisions throughout the product lifetime.
You might begin the morning analyzing requirements, review test data, update a CAD model based on what you learned. You could work alongside peers to evaluate a design change, or resolve competing packaging requirements. You may spend the afternoon troubleshooting a hardware failure, preparing for a design review, working with a supplier, or developing a test fixture.
About the team
Prime Air is Amazon's autonomous drone delivery service. Our mission is to build a safe, ultra-fast, and convenient drone delivery system that transforms the way packages are delivered to customers worldwide. Avionics Hardware Team at Prime Air develops and sustains Electrical and Electronics (EE) Hardware for the avionics systems of autonomous drones - including flight computers, air data sensors, cameras, radars, lighting systems, and electrical wiring interconnect systems - at Amazon's delivery scale.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- BS degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent
- 2+ years of working in mechanical engineering or equivalent experience
- Knowledge of SolidWorks or similar CAD experience and understanding of best practices for part design, and advanced assemblies
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Relevant experience with drones, electric vehicles, robotics, satellites, automation, or similarly complex systems that relies on electrical-mechanical-software interfaces.
- Familiarity with engineering drawings, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and mechanical design best practices.
- Familiarity with structural mechanics, dynamics, thermal environments, materials, mechanisms, electronics packaging, or manufacturing processes.
- Experience with Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Reliability (DFR) with fabrication, assembly, and qualification vendors.
The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.
USA, WA, Seattle - 117,300.00 - 160,000.00 USD annually
