Senior Mechanical Engineer

ARA’s Engineering Science Division is seeking an experienced mechanical engineer to support the design, development, prototyping, integration, and qualification of complex mechanical systems.

The successful candidate will be a hands-on mechanical engineer who can move comfortably between computer-aided design (CAD), engineering analysis, prototyping, system-level reviews, and hardware integration.

You should be comfortable working in a collaborative, technically demanding environment and communicating engineering decisions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

This is an on-site position in the ARA office in Panama City, FL.

Hybrid work may be possible for the right candidate, requiring attendance in the office a minimum of 3 days per week.

This position also requires regular travel to Newport, RI (up to 15%). 

What you will do as a senior mechanical engineer:


* Design, develop, test, handle implementation, and analysis of technical products and systems using applied engineering principles, including solid and fluid mechanics, and heat transfer


* Perform engineering design evaluations on weapons systems


* Perform dimensional tolerance analysis and functional analyses


* Procure, assemble, and test advanced prototypes to inform design decisions, refinements, and to demonstrate performance


* Prepare and present designs, at various design reviews


* Assist in the development of requirements for hardware


* Ensure designs satisfy requirements and demonstrate performance in a thorough verification and validation program


* Analyze data and make recommendations for improvement


* Understand nominal and off-nominal operations for a technical system and its interaction(s) with other systems


* Manage multiple issues at one time and develop an integrated solution


* Work with fabrication and manufacturing departments to ensure final design is properly executed in the creation of mechanical products


* Be agile and willing to assist in all areas of the development process to meet project milestones

Senior mechanical engineer requirements:


* Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field


* 8+ years of related work experience; graduate degree/research may serve to partially fulfill the experience requirement


* Excellent verbal, written, interpersonal, leadership, and team working skills


* Demonstrated skill in using CAD and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling software in design work


* Demonstrated experience in design analysis and mechanical design requirements development


* Ability and willingness to travel as required


* Ability to obtain a DoD Secret clearance; active Secret clearance is highly desired

Preferred capabilities:


* Strong background in thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, heat transfer as applied to high-pressure, high-temperature systems


* Proficiency with CFD for compressible, high-...