---
title: 'Senior Manager, Mechanical Engineering - Drone at Applied Intuition'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-mechanical-engineering-drone-applied-intuition-sunnyvale-a3fdevjggth3'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-18'
---

# Senior Manager, Mechanical Engineering - Drone at Applied Intuition

- **Company:** [Applied Intuition](https://feeny.ai/companies/applied-intuition)
- **Location:** Sunnyvale, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-16
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/applied/38d0bed5-e6b0-43ca-be2b-abf831b77396

## Job description

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at [applied.co](http://applied.co). We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

## About the role

As the senior Mechanical Engineering Manager, Drone, you will lead and grow the team responsible for the mechanical design of our drone platforms, from airframe and structures through full aircraft integration. You will own the mechanical engineering roadmap for our uncrewed aircraft, hire and develop a team of mechanical engineers, and work hands-on with your team through the full product design lifecycle, from concept and prototype through flight test and production.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

- Build and lead a team of mechanical engineers responsible for the airframe, fuselage, wings or rotor arms, landing gear, and structural components of our drone platforms
- Set technical direction on the tradeoffs between weight, strength, aerodynamics, flight time, and payload capacity that determine whether an aircraft flies well
- Guide your team's integration of propulsion, batteries, avionics, and payloads into the airframe, including packaging, mounting, cooling, and cable routing
- Oversee structural, thermal, and vibration analysis across the team, and use flight and test data to validate and improve designs
- Drive a culture of rapid prototyping: build, assemble, and iterate on real hardware, and support flight testing and field operations alongside your team
- Lead failure and crash investigations, drive root cause analysis, and turn lessons into design improvements across the team
- Own design, analysis, and validation quality at the component, assembly, and fully integrated aircraft level
- Champion design for manufacturability, repairability, and field serviceability across your team's work
- Hire, mentor, and grow mechanical engineers, and manage their performance and career development
- Partner cross-functionally with autonomy, avionics, electrical, software, and flight test leaders to ensure designs meet mission requirements

We're looking for someone who has:

- BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
- 12+ years of experience designing hardware and shipping products, ideally for drones, UAS, or aircraft
- 7+ years of experience leading and managing mechanical engineering teams
- Hands-on experience designing flight vehicles or flight-critical structures, such as airframes, wings, fuselages, rotor arms, or landing gear
- Strong understanding of what makes an aircraft fly: weight, structures, aerodynamic loads, stability, and propulsion integration
- Experience designing lightweight structures, including composites, carbon fiber, and aerospace-grade metals
- Experience with design for manufacturing across methods such as CNC machining, composite layup, sheet metal, and additive manufacturing
- Proficiency in CAD, SolidWorks preferred, for 3D design and modification
- Track record of hiring, developing, and retaining strong engineering talent

Nice to have:

- Experience supporting flight test and field operations, including setting up devices under test and writing clear documentation for test, maintenance, safety, and team processes
- Experience designing, drawing, and prototyping custom cable harnesses
- Demonstrated experience in FEA/CAE (structural, thermal, vibration, and shock)
- Hands-on experience shipping high-complexity hardware in both early-stage startup (0 to 1) and mass-production environments

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws. FOR US-BASED ROLES: Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available, requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way, and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request. If you require an accommodation please contact careers@applied.co. We will work with you!

## About Applied Intuition

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Applied Intuition builds software and digital infrastructure to bring physical AI — autonomous driving and robotics — to every moving machine on the planet.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series C; $1.5B total funding raised)
- **Headquarters**: Sunnyvale, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Qasar Younis (CEO) and Peter Ludwig (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Autonomous driving, robotics, defense technology, simulation and validation software for ADAS/AD systems.
- **Target customers**: B2B — automotive OEMs (18 of top 20 global automakers), trucking, construction, mining, agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Defense and its allies.
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “To build physical AI that creates a safer, more prosperous world.”

## Products & Services
- **Tools for Vehicle Intelligence**: Simulation, validation, and data management platforms for ADAS and autonomous vehicle development. SaaS and software tools for engineers building intelligent machines.
- **Vehicle OS**: An operating system for vehicles that manages over-the-air updates, data pipelines, and in-vehicle software, enabling automakers to deploy and maintain software-defined vehicles at scale.
- **Self-Driving Systems / Autonomy Stack**: End-to-end autonomous driving solutions, including perception, planning, and control, designed for cars, trucks, and off-road machinery.
- **NextGen OS & Infrastructure**: Platforms for defense, robotics, and next-generation physical AI applications, including solutions used by the U.S. military.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: ~$15 billion (as of 2024/2025, per LinkedIn profile)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $1.5 billion; 1,153 employees (+55% YoY); 396 active job postings
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Floodgate, NVIDIA, Databricks; partners include 18 of top 20 global automakers and U.S. defense agencies.
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Acquired EpiSci (Feb 2025), Caliber Data Labs, and entities in Germany/UK.
  - Headcount grew 55% YoY; 1,000+ engineers.
  - Office expansion to 12 countries (US, UK, Germany, Sweden, South Korea, Japan, India, etc.).
  - Active hiring — job postings up 117.6% YoY.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep domain expertise**: Founded by YC alum/former GM engineer (Qasar Younis) and ex-Google Maps/Android Automotive engineer (Peter Ludwig).
- **Talent density**: 1,000+ engineers, 40+ ex-CTOs, and 30+ former founders on staff — a unique concentration of senior, founder-level talent.
- **Breadth of industry coverage**: Serves automotive, defense, trucking, mining, agriculture, and construction — rare diversification in physical AI.
- **Trusted by government and top OEMs**: U.S. military and 18 of top 20 global automakers rely on their stack, creating high switching costs and deep moats.
- **End-to-end platform**: Covers simulation, validation, OS, and full autonomy stack — not just a point solution.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expansion into defense**: Heavy investment in defense AI, including acquisitions and dedicated government offices in Washington D.C., San Diego, and Ft. Walton Beach.
- **Scaling physical AI beyond automotive**: Driving autonomy into mining, agriculture, construction, drones, and satellites.
- **Growing global footprint**: Opening offices in Europe and Asia to serve local OEM and defense clients.
- **Deepening the research lab**: Building a world-class AI research team focused on real-world intelligence.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “1,000 engineers, 40 ex-CTOs, and 30 former founders” — a high-agency, high-trust environment where engineers take ownership of hard problems from day one.
- **Impact**: Work on technology that goes from sports cars to fighter jets to mining trucks — real-world physical AI that saves lives and reshapes industries.
- **Benefits**:
  - 100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
  - 50% 401(k) matching
  - Up to 12 weeks fully paid parental leave
  - Learning stipend for education and training
  - Fitness and wellness stipend
  - 25 free Lyra coaching/therapy sessions per year
  - Catered lunches and expensed dinners, snacks, and drinks at offices
  - Alumni network for long-term professional connections
- **Work model**: Office-first culture with global hubs (12 offices across US, Europe, and Asia). Not fully remote — roles are generally tied to a specific office location.

## Sources
1. [appliedintuition.com — About](https://www.appliedintuition.com/about)
2. [appliedintuition.com — Homepage](https://www.appliedintuition.com/)
3. [linkedin.com — Applied Intuition Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/applied-intuition-inc)
4. [appliedintuition.com — Careers](https://www.appliedintuition.com/careers)
5. [appliedintuition.com — Jobs](https://www.appliedintuition.com/jobs)

## Other roles at Applied Intuition

- [Full-Stack Software Engineer, People Intelligence](https://feeny.ai/job/full-stack-software-engineer-people-intelligence-applied-intuition-sunnyvale-vvmneaepdhbw) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [People Business Partner](https://feeny.ai/job/people-business-partner-applied-intuition-tokyo-namvnhsagyv9) — Tokyo, Japan
- [Senior Manager, Electrical Engineering - Drone](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-electrical-engineering-drone-applied-intuition-sunnyvale-nqx4xz2ctfyy) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [Head of Drone Hardware](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-drone-hardware-applied-intuition-sunnyvale-nm97rsxph5w8) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [Talent Operations Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/talent-operations-specialist-applied-intuition-sunnyvale-829nbp5rx4hd) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [Hardware Systems Lead, Drone](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-systems-lead-drone-applied-intuition-sunnyvale-s8ya5kfpz5wk) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [Global Account Manager - North America Automotive](https://feeny.ai/job/global-account-manager-north-america-automotive-applied-intuition-sunnyvale-h719mj5ea1j4) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [Information Security System Officer (ISSO)](https://feeny.ai/job/information-security-system-officer-isso-applied-intuition-poway-1bg81t2v1tst) — Poway, CA
- [Autonomous Vehicle Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/autonomous-vehicle-test-engineer-applied-intuition-tokyo-vw6d8ydk9wqz) — Tokyo, Japan
- [People Operations Generalist](https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-generalist-applied-intuition-sunnyvale-t27yd7t3j6y3) — Sunnyvale, CA