Mechanical Design Engineer
Leander, TX | Onsite | Full-Time
About Wild West Systems
Born in America. Built for the Future Warfighter.
Robotics are reshaping the battlefield, and yesterday’s weapon systems are outdated, expensive, and built for the past.
Wild West Systems is building the universal weapons layer for robotics: precision weapon systems designed to make autonomous platforms more capable, more lethal, and fully reusable. We’ve built a team of leading engineers from companies including Tesla, Apple (Special Projects Group), SpaceX, and more to rethink what these platforms are capable of.
This is the Wild West.
Want to keep building yesterday’s systems? Don’t join.
General Qualifications (All Roles)
- America matters. The mission matters. You must believe deeply in both.
- High-agency self-starter who moves fast and delivers without waiting for instructions.
- Extreme ownership. No excuses. No “that’s not my job.”
- Strong judgment and a relentless bias for action.
- Comfortable operating without a playbook, solving hard problems, and adapting as priorities change.
- Low ego, high standards, and committed to winning as a team.
- ITAR Requirement: To conform with U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorization from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.
The Role
As a Mechanical Design Engineer, your job is to design, build, test, and ship mechanical systems that survive real-world use. From early prototypes to scaled production, you own your parts end-to-end. If it breaks, you fix it. If it doesn’t exist yet, you design it. If it works on paper but fails in the field, it’s not done.
Extreme ownership is the baseline. Your work directly arms the warfighter, and that responsibility matters.
What You Own
- The mechanical integrity, performance, and manufacturability of your designs.
- Components, mechanisms, and structures from concept to production.
- Iteration speed without sacrificing reliability or safety.
- Getting parts built, assembled, tested, and validated, with no handoffs.
- If it touches metal, motion, load paths, or force, you’re accountable.
Component & System Design
- Design components with full lifecycle responsibility: calculations, tolerances, GD&T, drawings, and validation.
- Design in context, your parts must work with everyone else’s, under real loads.
Mechanisms
- Design and integrate linkages, gears, motors, actuators, and assemblies that work under stress.
Prototyping & Fabrication
- Build fast using in-house tools or external vendors.
- Own the loop from CAD to part to install to revision.
Testing & Validation
- Test like it’s going to the field, because it is.
- Measure performance, identify failure modes, and fix them.
- Paper success doesn’t count. Field performance does.
DFM & Scale
- Design for manufacturability from day one.
- Work directly with manufacturing and machinists to ensure precision, repeatability, and scale.
Procurement & Build Support
- Source materials, components, and vendors to keep builds moving.
- Solve supply problems without waiting for permission.
Ownership & Adaptability
- Priorities shift. Problems emerge. You step in.
- No “that’s not my job.” Only “what needs to be done.”
Documentation & Improvement
- Document designs, tests, processes, and lessons learned so hardware can be built again.
- Raise the bar on safety, reliability, and speed every cycle.
Requirements
Required Skills and Experience
- Proven, hands-on mechanical design experience.
- Strong CAD and GD&T capability.
- Ability to work independently in high-stakes, fast-moving environments.
- Bias for action, high accountability, and resilience under pressure.
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Weapons systems, UAVs, aerospace, or high-performance mechanisms.
- Designing hardware that survives testing, not just reviews.
- Additive manufacturing and 3D printer operation/maintenance.
- Designing for production, not just prototypes.
- Startup or small-team environments where impact is immediate.
- Onshape experience a plus, willingness to transition required.
Why Wild West
- Build the whole thing. Own your work from first principles through design, prototype, test, iteration, and production. What you build will leave the screen and enter the real world.
- Build where the hardware gets built. Engineering, fabrication, manufacturing, and testing happen under one roof, so ideas move fast.
- Make an impact from day one. Your decisions will shape the product, the roadmap, and the company itself.
- Move at mission speed. Work with urgency, solve hard problems, and turn ambitious ideas into field-ready systems.
- Share in what you build. Every employee has the opportunity to own stock options and participate in the company’s success.
- Work with exceptional people. Join a team defined by high standards, low ego, direct communication, and relentless execution.
What We Offer
- Competitive compensation: $160,000 to $175,000 base salary
- Equity: Stock options included with every offer
- Medical: 100% of employee premiums covered, 90% for spouse/family
- Dental & vision: 100% of premiums covered
- 401(k): Company plan with match
- Unlimited PTO
- Relocation support: Available for candidates relocating to the Austin area
Location and Eligibility
This is a full-time, onsite role at our facility in Leander, Texas, approximately 30 minutes from downtown Austin.
ITAR Eligibility: To conform with U.S. Government export regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), refugee, asylee, or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorization from the U.S. Department of State.
Wild West Systems uses E-Verify to confirm employment authorization.
Direct applicants only. We do not work with staffing companies for this role.
