Fotokite builds autonomous, actively tethered drones that give firefighters, police and other first responders an aerial view of an incident at the push of a button. More than 1,000 systems are in service worldwide. Our goal now is to make every next generation more robust, easier to build and cheaper to produce, while it keeps working in rain, snow, wind and on the roof of a moving vehicle.
We are looking for an experienced mechanical engineer who has developed complex electro-mechanical products and guided them through industrialization, production ramp-up and years of field use.
You will join our engineering team in Zurich to help shape the mechanical architecture of the Fotokite system: the kite, the tether, and the ground station it launches from, including our vehicle-mounted Rooftop Box and Transport Case. You will make sure each design meets the demands of reliability, serviceability, cost and quality.
Your daily mission:
- Lead the development of mechanical systems for the kite, tether and ground station, from concept through series production
- Design and improve the flight frame, tether components, enclosures and opening mechanisms, focusing on weight, robustness, serviceability and cost
- Work with external partners to integrate new payloads and features to the Fotokite
- Keep the system sealed and durable outdoors: weather protection (IP55), vibration on vehicle roofs, temperature extremes and thousands of launch and recovery cycles
- Drive design for manufacture, assembly and serviceability, and design-to-cost
- Own industrialization with production, supply chain and quality, so designs move cleanly from prototype to the production line
- Define the mechanical architecture, component specifications, tolerances and critical interfaces between kite, tether and ground station
- Run structural, fatigue, thermal, tolerance and reliability analyses that back design decisions
- Lead root-cause analysis of failures from testing, production and the field, and see corrective actions through
- Select and qualify suppliers, and run technical reviews with manufacturing partners
- Plan validation and oversee testing against performance and reliability requirements
- Mentor other engineers and set engineering best practices for CAD, documentation and change control
- Work closely with electronics, controls, firmware, product and operations teams to deliver a tightly integrated system
What you bring to the team:
- Master's or Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related field
- 6+ years developing complex mechanical or mechatronic products, including at least one you took into series production
- Practical command of manufacturing processes: CNC machining, sheet metal, injection molding, composites and precision assemblies
- SolidWorks (or equivalent), fluent GD&T, and experience with PLM tools
- A solid foundation in structural mechanics, dynamics and fatigue
- Comfort in the workshop: you build, debug and break your own prototypes
- Independence: you set your own priorities and make technical calls in a multidisciplinary team
- Fluent English
Nice-to-have
- Background in drones, aircraft, robotics or other weight-critical systems
- Lightweight structures and carbon fiber composite design
- Experience with IP-rated enclosures or vehicle-mounted equipment
- FMEA, risk analysis and quality systems
- Experience leading a mechanical team or a major subsystem