About the Company:

Industry: Defence Technology / Smart Munitions & Weapon Platforms

Company: High-Growth Defence-Tech Startup

About the Role:

– Head of Mechanical Engineering

Location: Gachibowli, Hyderabad Telangana

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Head of Mechanical Engineering to lead the design, development, qualification, and productionization of next-generation defence systems, smart munitions, and weapon platforms. The role will be responsible for driving mechanical architecture, product engineering, prototyping, testing, manufacturing readiness, and lifecycle support for mission-critical products. The successful candidate will build and lead the mechanical engineering organization while working closely with founders, customers, and cross functional engineering teams.

Responsibilities:

- Lead the end-to-end mechanical design, development, qualification, and productionization of advanced defence systems, smart munitions, and weapon platforms.
- Develop and oversee launcher mechanisms, munition subsystems, actuation systems, structural assemblies, and associated mechanical subsystems.
- Own product architecture, structural design, packaging, and ruggedization for defence applications.
- Lead design validation, reliability testing, environmental qualification, and field trials.
- Collaborate closely with Electronics, Embedded Systems, Software, and Systems Engineering teams.
- Drive Design for Manufacturing (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), cost optimization, manufacturability, and production scalability.
- Establish and manage a reliable supplier ecosystem including machining, fabrication, coatings, heat treatment, assembly, and component vendors to support prototype and production requirements
- Build, mentor,



and lead a high-performance mechanical engineering team.
- Ensure compliance with applicable defence and aerospace standards, including MIL-STD, JSS, quality, reliability, safety, and environmental qualification requirements throughout the product lifecycle

Qualifications

- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechatronics, Manufacturing Engineering or related field.

Required Skills

- 12–20yearsofexperience in defence, aerospace, weapon systems, smart munitions, launch systems, UAVs, missiles, robotics, or complex electromechanical products.
- Strongexpertise in:
- Mechanical system architecture and product design
- Defence-grade product development
- Structural analysis, simulation, and failure analysis
- Launch dynamics, recoil, shock, and vibration environments
- Mechatronics and actuation systems
- Manufacturing engineering and productionization
- Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA)
- Qualification and environmental testing
- Solid hands-on experience with CAD, simulation, and engineering analysis tools such as CATIA, SolidWorks, Creo, NX, ANSYS, Abaqus, or equivalent platforms.
- Proven experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams across product development, testing, manufacturing, and qualification activities.

Preferred Skills:

- What Success Looks Like in This Role
- Build and lead a high-performing mechanical engineering organization capable of supporting multiple defence product programs.
- Deliver complex defence products from concept through qualification, field trials, and production readiness.

Preferred Candidates are

- Preferred Immediate joiners or 15 days' Notice period
- please note: 6 days working

📌 Head of Mechanical Engineering (Hyderabad)
🏢 unnayan defence technologies
📍 Hyderabad