Senior - Principal Robotics Mechanical Engineer

Locations:
Chicago (Schaumburg), IL | St. Louis, MO

Type:
Full-time | Open 1/26/26 | Close 2/9/26

Wing Xpand is Expanding What’s Possible™ with Autonomous Systems, building long-endurance, backpackable smart plane drones and robotics systems that support defense, public safety, disaster response, and commercial missions. Our platforms operate across air, ground, and maritime domains, integrating autonomy, AI-powered sensing, edge computing, and networked systems to deliver real-world intelligence and threat detection. We design, build, and deploy complete systems — hardware, software, and data — and we move fast.

As Wing Xpand scales, we are seeking high performers to grow with our team.

We are seeking a senior or principal level drone / uncrewed aircraft vehicle (UAV) engineer to join our team to support new contract work. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing, developing, and optimizing Wing Xpand® UAV platforms. This is a high impact role with the pathway to senior level positions in the future.

• Design, develop and execute engineering optimization approaches for robotics systems
• Test and validate mechanical design constraints through software simulations, lab and flight tests
• Seamlessly collaborate with software and manufacturing engineers to achieve robotics design requirements
• Select, integrate, and design aircraft payloads, and sub-systems
• Assess robotics structural requirements and optimize construction to meet requirements, while minimizing weight
• Design, develop, and test drone / uncrewed vehicle (UxV) components to ensure they are optimized for manufacturability
• Support the creation of manufacturing production systems, balancing strength requirements, throughput requirements and cost

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely-related field
• 7 - 15+ years of experience designing, testing and optimizing robotics systems
• Experience with performing engineering sensitivity / trade space assessments
• Expert CAD designer with experience in Solidworks
• Strong communication and teamwork skills

• Prefer those with a background in developing robotics
• Prefer those with a proven track record of succeeding in fast paced environments
• Prefer those with the ability to tune drone software settings and directly support robotics test activities

To conform to U.S. Government aerospace technology export regulations, applicant must be a 'U.S. Person' (U.S. Citizen or a Permanent Resident/Green Card Holder).

If you are a self-motivated, results-driven individual with a passion for innovation and technology, we want to hear from you!

Apply with your resume and optional cover letter (CV), including the types of engineering or technical roles you have hired.