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Senior Actuation Design Engineer

Joby Aviation

Santa Cruz, CAJob$122–206K/yrPosted 1w agoStill listed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$122–206K/yr
Location
Santa Cruz, CA
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

Joby Aviation seeks a design engineer for its airframe and actuators team to design and certify flight-critical electromechanical actuators. The role spans requirements management, CAD design, hardware selection, certification documentation, manufacturing support, testing, and design changes informed by test and operational learnings. Aerospace actuator certification experience is highly desirable. The position requires regular onsite work at the company’s Santa Cruz headquarters.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

3D VisualizationAttention to DetailMechanical AptitudeTeamworkCommunicationCADHands-on DesignAerospace Actuator Certification

Qualifications

BS+5, MS+3 YrsAdvanced Degree in Mechanical, Aerospace or Related5+ Years Aerospace Experience8+ Years Overall Experience

Benefits

Paid Time Off
Medical Insurance
401(k) Match

Full job description

Company Overview

Imagine a piloted air taxi that takes off vertically, then quietly carries you and your fellow passengers over the congested city streets below, enabling you to spend more time with the people and places that matter most. At Joby, we've been working to make that dream a reality since 2009 and we're now in the final stages of certifying our aircraft with the FAA. With plans to launch our aircraft in the US and Dubai, we're now scaling manufacturing and preparing for the launch of our commercial service.

Overview

Joby Aviation is seeking a talented and experienced design engineer to join our airframe and actuators team. This individual will be responsible for the design and certification of flight critical electro-mechanical actuators. This role will involve management of existing requirements and drafting new requirements, conceptual and detailed CAD design, drawing creation, hardware selection and procurement, and drafting of documentation for certification. This role will also require support in the manufacturing of prototype and production flyaway actuators, component and system testing, data analysis, and implementing design changes driven by learnings from test and operation. Experience in the certification of aerospace actuators is highly desirable. Hands-on experience and a “get it done" attitude are key for this position. This position is rewarding for engineers that value seeing their ideas rapidly grow from concept to creation due to Joby Aviation’s fast development pace.

Responsibilities

  • Detailed layout of actuator mechanical and electrical design elements

  • Collaboration with engineering and certification teams to incorporate best practices

  • Ability and willingness to ‘get your hands dirty’ in the assembly and testing of actuators

  • Support of technicians and flight test personnel during integration and flight testing

  • Creation and maintenance of technical drawings and bill of materials

  • Support of certification process through documentation and communication

  • Support of manufacturing in root cause analysis of non conformances

  • Data analysis of manufacturing yield data

  • Support of manufacturing in failure analysis

  • Manage issues that affect fleet operations and maintenance

Required

  • B.S. degree in relevant field and 5+ years of industry work experience

  • M.S degree in relevant field and 3+ years of industry work experience

  • Ability to visualize complex 3D systems

  • Keen eye for detail and willingness to design to strict aerospace standards

  • Great mechanical aptitude and curiosity to learn

  • Excellent teamwork and communication skills

  • Proficiency with CAD

  • Willingness to be hands-on

  • Ability to be onsite regularly at our headquarters in Santa Cruz CA

Desired

  • Advanced degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or another relevant discipline

  • 5+ years of work experience within aerospace industry, 8+ years of overall experience

  • Certification of aerospace actuators

Additional Information

Compensation at Joby is a combination of base pay and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). The target base pay for this position is $121,500 - $206,100/yr. The compensation package will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.Joby also offers a comprehensive benefits package, including paid time off, healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan with a company match, an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and more.

Joby is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

How this job compares

Set against the 2,830 open Design Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted October 28, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$122–206K/yr
  • California median$130–195K/yr313 salary ranges
  • US median$110–160K/yr1,795 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $164K, is close to the California median midpoint ($163K) — in the middle half of Design Engineer salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 428 open Design Engineer jobs in California and 2,830 across the US. 4% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in California
Experience
This posting asks for at least 3 years of experience; Design Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years at the median (2,288 postings).
Education
2,060 of the 2,830 open Design Engineer jobs (73%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on October 28, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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