Mechanical Engineer

Scoutai · Sunnyvale, California · Engineering

Posted 2026-08-18

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The future of defense will be decided by those who field intelligent machines at scale. At Scout, we’re developing Fury, the first robotic foundation model for defense, to give U.S. forces overwhelming, adaptable, and autonomous power across every domain. Fury enables human operators to command fleets of robots through natural language, and empowers those machines to sense, decide, and act together as one. This mission will ask everything of us: urgency, precision, and relentless work.

The Role

As a mechanical engineer you will take full ownership of the hardware development across Scout’s robotic platforms. You'll design, build, and validate everything from vehicle testbeds to ruggedized compute enclosures and field-ready payload integrations. You'll help define requirements.

This role means rapidly iterating on real-world systems, designing for environmental resilience. You’ll work across disciplines and domains, collaborating tightly with our software engineers, mission operations team, and external partners to ensure our systems deliver dominance in the field. You’ll be moving fast, context-switching daily, and helping define the culture and process as we go. This is a rare opportunity to come in early and architect the hardware foundation for the AGI-powered future of defense.

Responsibilities

Lead the design, build, and deployment of mechanical and electromechanical systems across ground, maritime, and aerial platforms

Architect autonomy systems, including component selection for compute modules, communication devices, networking components, and sensors

Design rugged enclosures to house custom electronics - own the process from napkin sketch through prototyping and environmental qualification

Own all mechanical roles related to testing: fixture design, hardware selection, wiring, environmental sealing, and system validation

Integrate hardware with electrical and software systems in field-ready robotic platforms

Collaborate closely with mission operations and software/autonomy teams to ensure real-world readiness and performance

Troubleshoot hardware in the shop and in the field

Develop scalable, rugged, and modular hardware architectures that can evolve across mission types and environments

Author documentation for test plans, validation results, integration procedures, and hardware specs

Contribute to a rapid, iterative development loop between R&D and mission deployment

Qualifications

3+ years of experience in mechanical, electrical, mechatronics, or hardware test engineering, preferably in robotics, aerospace, automotive, or defense

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering

Strong 3D CAD skills to design fixtures, enclosures, and electromechanical systems

Experience architecting systems and selecting sensors, communications, and compute

Hands-on experience with ruggedized electronics design and qualification

Comfortable working with electrical engineers to define PCBA outlines and mechanical interfaces, including thermal management and connector selection

Broad test and analysis skills in the areas of thermal, structural, fluid, shock & vibe and environmental

Strong communication, documentation, and cross-disciplinary collaboration skills

Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export controlled information or facilities

Passion about defense of the United States and its allies

May be expected to obtain and hold a U.S. Top Secret security clearance

Why Join Scout

Work on the world’s most important frontier, ensuring U.S. and allied dominance in the age of intelligent machines

Be a core part of a team building the first defense-specific robotic foundation model

Collaborate with some of the top engineers in autonomy, AI, and national security

See your work deployed on real systems

Backed by investors including Draper Associates and Booz Allen Ventures

Benefits

Competitive compensation package including base salary and bonus

Meaningful equity

Premium medical, dental, and vision plans with $0 paycheck contribution

Competitive PTO and company holiday calendar

Catered lunch daily and fully stocked kitchen

EV charging

Relocation assistance (depending on role eligibility)

The stated salary range below represents an estimated base pay only and reflects consideration of multiple compensation factors. Final salary offers may differ depending on factors including, but not limited to, relevant experience or training background, specialized skills, and business needs. Most full-time positions also include highly competitive equity awards, which form part of Scout AI's overall compensation package. In addition, Scout AI provides comprehensive, top-tier benefits to full-time employees.

US Salary Range

$110,000—$205,000 USD

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