Mechanical Engineering Manager

Good hardware starts with a good team. This role is for the engineering leader who wants to mature SOE's mechanical discipline from the inside out, developing engineers, raising the technical bar, and building the kind of collaborative environment where hard problems get solved well. 

Role Overview:
As Mechanical Engineering Manager, you will be the primary technical and people leader for the mechanical engineering discipline at SOE. You will be accountable for design decisions, execution quality, and delivery outcomes across hardware development projects in aerospace, renewable energy, medical devices, and robotics. You will provide hands-on technical guidance, develop engineering talent, and create an environment where collaboration and continuous improvement are the standard.

This is a team-building and culture-setting role as much as a technical one. You will work closely with cross-functional partners and leadership to align team efforts with business goals, and you will shape the processes and capabilities that mature the mechanical engineering discipline at SOE.

What You Will Do:

• Own mechanical engineering technical decisions and outcomes across projects, serving as the escalation point for critical design tradeoffs, technical risk, and delivery challenges 
• Lead, mentor, and manage the mechanical engineering team, setting clear performance expectations, developing their technical and leadership skills, and building a strong, accountable engineering culture 
• Coach team members through complex problem-solving, facilitate cross-functional collaboration, and develop the team’s capacity to navigate ambiguous problem spaces 
• Provide hands-on technical guidance across the mechanical engineering development lifecycle, from concept design and analysis through prototyping and production
• Establish standards, processes, and best practices that improve design quality, consistency, and execution efficiency across the discipline
• Partner with Business Development and project leadership to define technical scope, execution plans, and success criteria

What You Will Need: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, Physics, or a related field
• 7+ years in a mechanical engineering and hardware development role for aerospace, industrial automation, robotics, or similar industries 
• 5+ years in engineering design leadership and/or people management roles, with demonstrated ability to develop engineers and build accountable teams
• Demonstrated experience taking ownership of complex mechanical systems from concept through manufacturing and developing others to do the same
• Strong background in electromechanical system design and tightly coupled hardware systems
• Proficiency in computer-aided design (CAD), finite element analysis (FEA), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
• Strong communication skills; ability to synthesize and communicate technical information to non-technical stakeholders
• Ability to manage technical risk, scope, and delivery across multiple projects 

What Would Be Useful:

• Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Management, or a related field
• Previous experience in a consulting or customer-facing role 
• Experience with electronics packaging, custom actuators, and mechanism designs
• Experience with steady state and dynamic thermal and structural analyses 
• Familiarity with electrical engineering design work and knowledge of embedded systems, firmware, power electronics, analog control, or discrete logic design 
• Experience with navigating ambiguous situations and delivery of difficult information to senior leadership, employees and clients

Benefits:

• Compensation range of $159,980-$197,700 + equity incentive plan
• Flexible work hours and work from home policy 
• 100% employer-paid health insurance (Medical, Dental, Vision) for employees + 50% dependent coverage
• Unlimited paid time off policy, 11x paid company holidays, 12x paid sick days
• 401(k) retirement account and employer matching (Safe Harbor 4%)
• Generous paid parental leave
• Relocation assistance available if 50+ miles away from the office
• Catered lunches, snacks, and accessible kitchen

Our Values in Practice:
SOE’s four core values are the standard by which we operate. As Mechanical Engineering Manager, you are expected to model them for your team in every technical decision, coaching conversation, and client interaction:

• Lead with Curiosity: Coach your team to question assumptions before executing them. Guide problem-solving sessions that go beyond the obvious solution. Invest in understanding the underlying business need, and build a team culture where asking “why” is the default.
• Own the Outcome: Take accountability for team results, not just your own work. Communicate risks early, address performance gaps directly, and build the systems that help your team deliver consistently, even when requirements are shifting.
• Build the Right Thing: Ensure your team’s technical decisions balance rigor with what the project actually needs. Communicate trade-offs clearly to stakeholders. Push back when requirements don’t match intent, and hold the standard on design quality.
• Empower Others: Invest in your engineers. Delegate stretch assignments that build real capability. Create an environment where collaboration and honest feedback are the norm, and the team gets stronger with every project.

About SOE:
SOE is an engineering consulting firm that specializes in electrical, electromechanical, and embedded systems. Founded in 2016, we’ve grown from a 3-person operation to a team of 40+ engineers across offices in El Segundo, CA and Redmond, WA. In that time, we’ve completed over 250 projects for more than 100 clients. Our designs control rocket engines, manage satellite communications, instrument fusion reactors, and are enjoyed by consumers around the world. The only thing we won’t build are weapons.

We’re 100% employee-owned, which means that every engineer at SOE has a real stake in what we build. We structured the company this way because we believe the people best equipped to advance our mission are the ones doing the work.

We approach problems from first principles. We break challenges down to their most fundamental components, which is how we find solutions that hold up across industries, use cases, and engineering functions. We focus on solving the right problems and building the teams to take them on.

Additional Requirements:

• Applicant must be able to work 40 hours a week in El Segundo, California, USA
• Applicant must be eligible to work on export controlled projects
• Job Type: Full-time (Salary)

Export Control Requirements:
To conform with U.S. Government export control regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide sponsorship at this time.

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply!
Second Order Effects is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SOE is governed on the basis of excellence and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.