Senior Mechanical Engineer

Department: Engineering

Location: Los Angeles - Greater Area

Employment Type: FullTime

About Vital Lyfe

Vital Lyfe is a tech company redefining water autonomy through innovation — creating a new category of personal water-making technology built to scale where infrastructure can’t.

The Mission

Own and build the core mechanical systems behind our product; pumps, valves, pressure vessels, and fluid-handling assemblies & take them from early concepts to production at scale. This is a hands on, high-ownership role for someone who wants to design, test, break, fix, and ship hardware.

What You’ll Do

• Own major mechanical subsystems from concept through production ramp and launch.

• Design, prototype, and validate pumps, valves, pressure vessels, and related mechanical components.

• Drive system-level tradeoffs across performance, reliability, manufacturability, and cost.

• Build and run test plans to validate performance across real-world environments and edge cases.

• Work closely with electrical, firmware, industrial design, and manufacturing to turn ideas into shipped product.

• Help design and improve manufacturing processes and production equipment, including fixtures, tooling, and automation concepts.

• Iterate fast—identify problems, propose solutions, and implement changes without heavy process overhead.

• Support supplier selection, part qualification, and production ramp.

• Mentor junior engineers as the team grows (without becoming detached from hands-on work).

What We’re Looking For

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.

• 5+ years of experience designing and shipping mechanical or electromechanical hardware.

• Strong CAD and FEA skills applied to real, production-intent designs.

• Experience taking products from prototype to manufacturing.

• Comfort working in ambiguity and making tradeoffs with incomplete information.

• Bias toward action, ownership, and practical engineering solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with consumer hardware or high-volume manufacturing.

• Background in pumps, valves, pressure systems, or fluid mechanics.

• Exposure to automation, manufacturing process development, or production equipment.

• Startup or early-stage company experience.

Physical Job Requirements - Essential Functions

• Hands on work on development hardware.

• Long periods of standing, crouching, walking.

• Lifting up to 50 lbs.

Why Join Vital Lyfe?

• Work on high-impact problems with global relevance

• Help scale breakthrough technology in water security and climate resilience

• Early ownership in a high-growth, engineering-led startup

• Join a tight-knit, mission-driven team in a fast-paced environment

• Build long-term career equity as we grow

Location Requirement: Ability to work 100% onsite in Torrance, CA (remote or hybrid work will not be considered)

Vital Lyfe is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vital Lyfe is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.