---
title: 'Senior Responsible Engineer at Salient Motion'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-responsible-engineer-salient-motion-torrance-vsz5kf7d5sd8'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Senior Responsible Engineer at Salient Motion

- **Company:** Salient Motion
- **Location:** Torrance, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-05-05
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/salientmotion/jobs/5211133008

## Job description

**Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) to meet customer and regulatory requirements**

## Who We Are

We are pioneering modular motion technologies to power the next generation of innovation for Industrial, Aerospace and Defense. If you're excited about disrupting legacy industries, and passionate about motor control technology, let's chat!

We are at the forefront of innovation, crafting exclusive motion control components that propel the industrial, aerospace, and defense sectors into the future.

A couple other things:

- We are open to relocating you
- We have great benefits
- We are well funded, and already generating revenue
- We are located in beautiful Torrance, CA and just moved into a new large hangar facility

## What You'll Do

We are seeking a technically authoritative Responsible Engineer (RE) to serve as the single accountable engineering voice for our precision motion control products. You will own the technical integrity of assigned hardware from design release through certification and fielding — signing off on drawings, approving deviations, and standing behind every engineering decision with your name on it.

- Technical Authority: Serve as the designated Responsible Engineer for assigned products and assemblies — the final engineering signatory on drawings, specifications, test plans, and certification documentation.
- Design Ownership: Own the technical baseline of assigned hardware; approve design changes, assess their impact across form, fit, and function, and maintain the integrity of the configuration throughout the product lifecycle.
- Drawing & Documentation Approval: Review and approve engineering drawings, BOMs, and specifications to ASME Y14.5 GD&T standards; ensure all released documentation accurately reflects the as-designed and as-built configuration.
- Deviation & Waiver Authority: Evaluate and disposition non-conformances, deviations, and waivers with technical rigor; accept, reject, or impose conditions on hardware that does not meet the design baseline.
- Qualification Oversight: Provide technical oversight and approval authority for qualification and acceptance test plans and reports to DO-160 and MIL-STD-810 standards; ensure test results substantiate all performance and environmental requirements.
- Certification Support: Interface with certification authorities (FAA, DCSA, customer DERs) as the accountable engineering representative; prepare and defend technical data packages and compliance rationale.
- Change Control: Lead engineering change boards (ECBs) for assigned products; assess the technical merit, risk, and downstream impact of all proposed changes before approval.
- Cross-Functional Guidance: Provide authoritative technical guidance to design, manufacturing, quality, and supply chain teams — resolving engineering disputes and setting the standard for what is and is not acceptable.
- Communicate to the Business: Work with the Technical Program Manager to create the appropriate swim lanes to achieve appropriate milestones.

## What You Need

- Education: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Master's degree or professional engineering (PE) license preferred.
- Experience: 8+ years of engineering experience in aerospace, defense, or high-reliability industrial hardware, with a demonstrated track record of serving in a technical authority or lead engineer capacity.
- Technical Depth: Expert-level understanding of electromechanical product design including electromagnetic actuators, precision mechanisms, and avionics enclosures — sufficient to independently evaluate and approve all engineering work on assigned products.
- GD&T & Drawing Authority: Mastery of ASME Y14.5 GD&T; proven ability to author, review, and approve complex 2D engineering drawings and assembly specifications.
- Certification & Qualification: Deep experience with aerospace or defense hardware qualification and certification processes, including DO-160, MIL-STD-810, and interaction with regulatory bodies or customer technical representatives.

What we have to offer:

We are not just building components. We are reshaping the future of the Aerospace and Defense component industry, which is a $300B+ market! Come join us and help build next generation systems that will make a massive impact at global scale.

- We offer competitive compensation: $120,000 to $140,000 base salary + equity
- Exceptional healthcare benefits, Medical is 100% covered by the company
- Flexible PTO
- 401K
- More to come!

## About Salient Motion

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Salient Motion designs and manufactures critical electromechanical actuation systems for commercial aviation and defense, replacing legacy supply chains with modular, software-defined motion control.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Torrance, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Vishaal Mali (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing, Defense
- **Target Customers**: OEMs (e.g., Boeing), MROs, and defense contractors for commercial airliners and military platforms (B2B, Enterprise)
- **Mission**: To change the paradigm of legacy aerospace and defense supply chains, unlocking a new era of speed, innovation, and possibility.

## Products & Services
- **Critical Actuation Systems**: Advanced electromechanical actuators (linear and rotary) for flight control, landing gear, and other mission-critical functions on commercial and military aircraft.
- **Software-First Architecture**: A modular, software-defined actuation platform that decouples control logic from hardware. Core motor control software is certified to DO-178C standards as a reusable library, enabling rapid configuration and validation across platforms.
- **Certification Services**: Certification-centric engineering built from day one, aiming for up to 10x reductions in cost and lead time for certifiable products.
- **Support & Sustainment**: Direct, fast, and personal support for integration, troubleshooting, and sustainment of actuation systems.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding of **$4.0M** (Seed round led by Cantos VC in October 2024, with participation from AE Ventures and Ian Rountree; a Pre-Seed round occurred in November 2022)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Cantos (Lead), AE Ventures, Ian Rountree. Key customer/partner: **Boeing** (collaborating on certifying modular actuators for commercial airliners).
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount of ~30 employees with +15.2% monthly growth; talent sourced from Anduril Industries, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, and other top aerospace/defense firms; active job postings increasing +200% month-over-month; expansion to a second office in Irvine, CA.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Software-First Modularity**: Their core differentiator is a software-defined architecture that is certified as a reusable library (DO-178C). This allows for rapid, low-cost configuration for different aircraft platforms, offering a 10x improvement in lead time and cost over legacy suppliers.
- **Vertically Integrated Supply Chain**: Streamlined engineering workflows and vertically integrated partnerships enable delivery of actuator systems in weeks, not quarters.
- **Certification-First Approach**: All systems are designed with certification in mind from day one, drastically reducing the time and cost to achieve airworthiness.
- **Legacy Disruption**: They offer a direct alternative to high-cost, slow-moving legacy OEM suppliers, providing certified solutions without overhead markup.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale Production**: Moving from design and prototyping to manufacturing and delivery at scale, as evidenced by hiring for Senior Manufacturing Engineer and Quality Manager roles.
- **Expand Customer Base**: Deepening the partnership with Boeing while expanding to other commercial and defense OEMs.
- **Domestic Supply Chain**: Developing motors and inverters using domestic resources to meet national security imperatives.
- **Platform Development**: Refining their core "electric motion operating system," including standalone inverters, web-based configuration platforms, and performant motors.

## Why Work Here
- **High-Impact Work**: Employees solve some of the hardest motion control challenges in aerospace and defense, with work that directly impacts millions of daily passengers.
- **Culture**: Described as a high-velocity environment emphasizing "Extreme Entrepreneurship," "Execution Over Excuses," and "Mastery Over Ego." The culture values ownership, creativity, and a relentless focus on execution.
- **Strong Talent Pool**: Team includes veterans from Anduril, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX, providing a steep learning curve and high-performance peer group.
- **Work Policy**: **In-Office** (Torrance, CA and Irvine, CA). The company explicitly values in-person collaboration.
- **Growth Trajectory**: Early-stage (Seed) with rapid headcount growth, offering significant upside and career acceleration for early employees.

## Sources
1. [salientmotion.com](https://salientmotion.com/)
2. [salientmotion.com](https://salientmotion.com/careers)
3. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/salient-motion)
4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/salient-motion)

## Other roles at Salient Motion

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- [Global Supply Chain Manager- Electronics](https://feeny.ai/job/global-supply-chain-manager-electronics-salient-motion-torrance-gcm3vx04a36d) — Torrance, CA
- [Global Supply Chain Manager, Mechanical](https://feeny.ai/job/global-supply-chain-manager-mechanical-salient-motion-torrance-62aw33agrcak) — Torrance, CA
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