As a Mechanical Engineer at Hades, you will own the mechanical design of our laser drilling system - from downhole tooling and pressure-bearing housings to surface deployment hardware. You'll take subsystems from first concept through prototype, qualification, and field deployment, where they need to survive multi-kilometre depths, hundreds of bar of pressure, high temperatures, and abrasive subsurface environments.
This is a foundational role with significant ownership and direct collaboration with the founding team, spanning optics, robotics, geoscience, and applied physics. You'll set the mechanical engineering bar for the company.
Responsibilities
- Design, analyse, and qualify mechanical systems for the laser drilling tool - including pressure housings, sealing systems, structural components, and deployment mechanisms
- Perform structural, thermal, and fluid analyses (FEA/CFD) to validate designs against extreme downhole conditions
- Drive design-for-manufacturing and design-for-assembly across in-house and external supply chains; own drawings, tolerances, and material selection
- Build and run test rigs to characterise components and subsystems under representative pressure, temperature, and load
- Take prototypes into the field: support integration, commissioning, and iteration on real drilling sites
- Collaborate closely with opto-mechanical, electrical, and software engineers to deliver an integrated, robust system
Qualification:
We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled individual who possesses:
- BSc or MSc in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
- 3+ years of hands-on experience designing precision or high-reliability mechanical systems (oil & gas, aerospace, defence, space, fusion, deep-sea, or similar harsh-environment domains strongly preferred)
- Strong CAD skills (Siemens NX, SolidWorks, or equivalent) and fluency with FEA tools (Ansys, Abaqus, or similar)
- Solid grasp of pressure vessel design, sealing technologies, materials selection, and tolerance stack-ups
- Demonstrated ability to take designs from concept through prototype to field-tested hardware
- Evidence of exceptional ability - top-of-class academics, ambitious side projects, competition wins, startup experience, or equivalent
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
- Willing to reside in the greater Munich area
