Sr. Staff/Principal Mechanical Engineer, Battery

This position may be filled at the Staff, Senior Staff, or Principal level, depending on the candidate’s qualifications and experience. All levels require hands-on CAD design and direct ownership of battery-pack mechanical hardware.

Key Responsibilities

• Design battery-pack mechanical architecture, including enclosure structural concepts, module and cell retention, pack-to-vehicle interfaces, sealing, venting, cooling hardware integration, and serviceability.
• Develop and own pack-level CAD layouts, detailed 3D component models, assemblies, and production drawings for enclosures, covers, cold plates, brackets, seals, mounting systems, and related components.
• Translate customer and system requirements into mechanical designs, interface definitions, and verification criteria. Lead tradeoffs across safety, performance, mass, cost, packaging, and manufacturing.
• Perform packaging studies, engineering calculations, and tolerance analyses. Define critical dimensions, GD&T, and interfaces, and take designs through formal release.
• Partner with electrical, thermal, systems, CAE, manufacturing, and quality teams to resolve integration challenges. Incorporate analysis and test results into designs to meet structural durability, electrical isolation, and thermal-event management requirements.
• Select materials, joining methods, and manufacturing processes suited to high-volume production. Work directly with suppliers to refine component designs and resolve manufacturing and assembly challenges.
• Lead mechanical design reviews and DFMEA activities. Define validation priorities with test and analysis teams, assess results, and drive root-cause investigation and corrective design changes through closure.
• Support prototype builds, inspect hardware, troubleshoot fit and assembly issues, and implement improvements through CAD and drawing updates.
• Serve as a primary mechanical technical interface with customers and suppliers, communicating design decisions, tradeoffs, risks, and mitigation plans.
• Establish and improve design standards, drawing practices, and technical documentation. Mentor engineers through hands-on problem-solving and CAD and drawing reviews.
• Own mechanical design execution from concept through production launch, identifying technical risks early and resolving issues affecting quality, cost, and program timing.

Required Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline; MS preferred.
• Typically 10+ years of relevant mechanical engineering experience, with demonstrated ownership of complex automotive, battery, or electrification hardware.
• Experience taking mechanical hardware (battery) through at least one complete product development cycle, from concept and detailed design through validation and production launch.
• Recent, substantial hands-on experience developing complex 3D CAD assemblies, detailed component designs, and production drawings.
• Ability to independently develop battery-pack mechanical layouts and carry component and assembly designs through detailed engineering, validation, and release.
• Demonstrated technical leadership in mechanical architecture, cross-functional design decisions, and delivery of production hardware.
• Strong expertise in structural assemblies, sealing, materials, joining methods, and thermal hardware integration.
• Expertise in engineering drawings, GD&T, tolerance analysis, and controlled design release.
• Strong understanding of high-volume manufacturing processes, such as stamping, casting, extrusion, injection molding, welding, and adhesive bonding, including automated assembly considerations.
• Experience leading design reviews, DFMEA, validation planning, and systematic root-cause investigation, with direct responsibility for implementing design solutions.
• Understanding of battery-system safety considerations and their implications for mechanical design, including electrical isolation, cell expansion, venting, and thermal propagation.
• Ability to influence without direct authority, mentor engineers, and communicate technical requirements and tradeoffs effectively with customers, suppliers, and globally distributed teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience bringing EV battery packs into production.
• Experience with aluminum castings and extrusions, structural adhesives, liquid-cooling hardware, and pack-to-body integration.
• Experience defining mechanical requirements and validation approaches for battery durability, crash loading, environmental exposure, and serviceability.