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Mechanical Engineer

Who we are

Arqus is a space defence company. Our mission is to keep order in orbit. Just as a fighter jet secures the skies and a navy ship secures the seas, we are building the systems that will protect every asset above us, the satellites our economies, our security, and our daily lives now depend on.

Space has become contested. As the orbital domain fills with infrastructure and threats alike, Europe cannot afford to leave its most critical assets undefended. We believe Europe must have sovereign means to deter, defend, and uphold law and order beyond the atmosphere, and we take the responsibility of building those means seriously.

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We are an ambitious team of engineers, physicists, and operators applying directed-energy and autonomy to one of the hardest problems there is. We are looking for mission-driven people who want to defend the high ground, and who welcome honest debate about the use of force in space, its limits, and its ethics.

Your Role & Responsibilities

You will own the mechanical design of our C-UAS systems and space payloads. Structures, precision mechanisms, enclosures, thermal paths, and every interface that holds optics, electronics, and motion together. You own the full chain: concept, CAD, analysis, supplier search and contact, manufacture, certification, test, and integration. If a part comes back wrong, it is yours to fix.

Our hardware has to work on a vehicle, on a boat, in Finland, in the Sahara, and in orbit. Those are five different design problems and we have all of them. Timelines are short: we build the minimum thing that genuinely works, put it in front of stakeholders, and then make it good. We do field tests, live failures, and iterate fast. The expectation is not that you know everything, it is that you figure it out fast, get it running, and refine later. If you need a structured environment to do your best work, this is probably not the right fit. If you thrive without one, it is.

What you’ll build

  • Mechanical architecture and detailed design of C-UAS systems and space payload structures

  • Precision mechanisms: pan-tilt and gimbal assemblies, bearing and shaft architecture, preload, stiffness and backlash budgets, cable and slip-ring routing

  • Optomechanics for high-power laser assemblies: mounts, benches, alignment stability and fixtures

  • Structural and thermal analysis: load cases, stiffness and modal targets, random vibration and shock, conduction paths, radiators, interface materials

  • Ruggedisation for arctic, desert, marine, and vehicle environments: sealing and IP, corrosion and galvanic compatibility, shock and vibration isolation

  • Design for manufacture across machining, sheet metal, welding, and additive, with tolerance stack-ups and GD&T that hold up in assembly

  • Drawings and data packs, first article inspection, incoming quality, rework decisions

  • Supplier search, RFQs, quoting, technical negotiation, and supplier contact in Munich and across Europe

  • Qualification and certification: test plans, environmental and functional test, and the documentation behind them

  • Assembly, integration, and field support with the electronics, optics, and software teams

  • Workshop, tooling, fixtures, and the drawing, revision, and part-numbering standards we will run on

What we are looking for

You must have NATO member state citizenship.
 

Required
 

  • Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent, and around 3 years in industry. Your CV must show hardware you designed that was built, deployed, and used, not just modelled

  • Strong first-principles engineering: you size and justify designs rather than copying previous ones

  • Professional CAD and drawing skills. We use Fusion 360; any equivalent background is fine

  • Design for manufacture in machining, sheet metal, and welded assemblies, plus tolerance stack-up and GD&T

  • Materials and surface treatment selection for harsh environments: aluminium and steel alloys, stainless, titanium, composites, anodising, passivation, coatings, galvanic compatibility

  • Structural and thermal analysis competence, including enough FEA to make decisions

  • Fastening, bonding, sealing, and locking schemes that survive vibration, thermal cycling, and salt

  • Hands-on procurement: writing an RFQ, reading a quote, chasing lead times, catching a bad part before it goes into an assembly

  • Hands-on shop and lab ability. You build and test your own hardware

  • Ability to work across mechanics, electronics, optics, and software to close a problem

  • NATO member state citizenship
     

Good to Have
 

  • Defence, aerospace, space, automotive, marine, or motorsport hardware experience

  • Environmental qualification to MIL-STD-810, IEC 60529 or similar, and CE marking or machinery-directive experience

  • Space qualification: launch loads, random vibration and shock, thermal vacuum, venting, outgassing and material selection, ECSS practice

  • Precision motion and optomechanics: torque motors, encoders, bearing preload, athermal mounting

  • Vibration isolation and modal design for vehicle and marine installations

  • Harness and cable routing design, connector selection, EMI-aware enclosure design

  • Additive manufacturing, composites, or injection moulding

  • Simulation beyond static FEA: modal, thermal, CFD, multibody dynamics

  • Experience designing mechanics against a control loop's requirements

  • German for dealing with local suppliers
     

Full-time, on-site in Munich. Early-employee equity.

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