Prototype Engineer

U.S. Persons Only | On-Site in San Francisco, CA

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W-2 Employment | 4-Month Role (Through End of 2026) | Immediate Start Preferred

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Mara is building a horde of small, autonomous robots to defend the free world. Our first product, Spike, is a portable counter-drone swarm that stops deadly drone attacks.

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We are looking for non-stop builders with a need to be challenged beyond their capabilities daily. If you can’t wait to contribute to the defense of human liberty, apply.

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The role

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We're building a fleet of C-UAS drones and systems: hardware that has to work the first time, every time, because the people relying on it are standing under the same sky as the threats it's built to stop. We need someone who can take a pile of parts, turn it into a functioning aircraft, and then tell us exactly why the one that didn't work, didn't.

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This is not a production line job. Our aircraft change between batches, sometimes between builds, because the engineering team is iterating in real time, not repeating a fixed process. You'll be building small batches of aircraft working directly alongside the engineers who designed them, catching what breaks before it ships, and helping shape how the next batch gets built.

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What you'll do

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● Assemble 3D-printed components into the airframe

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● Install propulsion (motors, ESCs, props) and verify thrust and direction before it goes on the aircraft

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● Fabricate and install power and signal harnesses: crimp, solder, label, strain-relieve, and verify continuity

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● Install and site avionics and RF: flight controller, GPS, telemetry radio, RC receiver, and antennas

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● Load and verify flight controller firmware and parameter sets for each airframe configuration

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● Run functional checkout before drones leave for testing

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● Troubleshoot to the component level and fix it: bad crimps, components with no power, or outdated parameters

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● Inspect and rebuild drones after flight and after crashes

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● Maintain maintenance logs and track which tail number has had what work or modifications done to it

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● Write down what you did so the next build goes faster

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What we're looking for

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● Demonstrated hands-on experience building and troubleshooting aircraft, drones, or comparable electro- mechanical hardware. Professional experience, a university team, or your own garage all count. Show us what you've built.

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● Comfortable working from a BOM, drawing, and spec

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● Strong soldering skills, at every scale. You'll be soldering everything from heavy power leads down to fine- gauge signal wire, including GPS antenna leads and pogo-pin connections, and we expect clean, consistent joints at that small gauge, not just on the easy stuff.

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● Basic electrical troubleshooting with a multimeter

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● A figure-it-out attitude. We need someone who reads the datasheet, tries something, and iterates, rather than waiting to be told.

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No degree required. Students, recent grads, career changers, and self-taught builders are encouraged to apply. If you can do the work, we don't care how you learned it.

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Nice to have

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None of these are required. Any of them will get our attention.

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● RC aircraft design, build, or flying experience

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● FAA Part 107, or willingness to get it

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● Prior aerospace or defense hardware experience

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Mara is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will always hire folks from any and every background

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and lived experience, because we know that’s how the strongest teams in the world are built.

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Empowerment, equity, and liberation bring strength, resilience, and growth; which is why we

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believe in the vigorous defense, and continuous improvement, of the free nations of the world.