Director, Mechanical Engineering
New York, New York
Design and Engineering /
Full Time /
On-site
Reinvent housing. Transform lives. Design a new class of product.
At Vessel, we’re not tweaking the edges of an old system—we’re building a new one from the ground up. We’re creating a new generation of housing products: designed with elegance, built for speed, and engineered to improve life for thousands.
As our Director of Mechanical Engineering, you won’t be refining a part—you’ll be defining a product. You’ll lead the mechanical vision for how our homes are formed, connected, shipped, and assembled. You’ll build the hardware of a new kind of housing system—something closer to a product than a project, closer to an iPhone than an apartment.
This is a role for someone who wants to build something that matters, and engineer at the scale of impact.
What You'll Do
- Lead the mechanical design and development of Vessel’s housing product—from structural frames to exterior enclosures, fastening systems to finishing details.
- Architect a platform that’s easy to manufacture, ship, and install, while being durable, elegant, and high-performance.
- Create a product that meets the standards of the best consumer hardware—but at the scale of neighborhoods.
- Own the hardware systems roadmap, balancing performance, beauty, cost, and speed-to-market.
- Collaborate deeply across architecture, software, electrical, and manufacturing to deliver seamless, scalable design.
- Build and lead a world-class team of mechanical engineers, and grow them into the defining force behind a revolutionary product line.
Who You Are
- A product-minded mechanical engineer with 10+ years of experience shipping real things into the world—devices, vehicles, robotics, or next-gen systems.
- Mastery of materials, structural design, connection strategies, DfMA principles, and real-world performance tradeoffs.
- Obsessed with simplicity, quality, and speed—you believe the best designs are the ones that disappear.
- Comfortable across concept, CAD, testing, tooling, manufacturing, and field deployment. You can sketch it, design it, prototype it, and make it real.
- A team builder, cross-functional collaborator, and mission-driven thinker.
- Motivated not just by what’s cool to build—but by what matters.
$200,000 - $250,000 a year
At Vessel, we believe that those who help build the future should share in the value they create. In addition to a competitive base salary, this role includes:
Equity Ownership – You’ll receive a meaningful equity grant, giving you real stake in the success of Vessel and alignment with our long-term mission.
Performance Bonus – An annual bonus opportunity tied to personal and company performance, recognizing both impact and leadership.
Comprehensive Benefits – Including health, dental, and vision coverage, generous PTO, and access to wellness and professional development resources.
Relocation Support (if applicable) – For candidates joining us in NYC, we provide relocation assistance to make the move seamless.
Mission-Driven Culture – You’ll join a team of builders and visionaries committed not just to great products, but to meaningful societal impact.
We're not just offering a job—we're offering the chance to be part of a generational company, to build something that matters, and to grow with it.
Why Vessel
We are building homes like no one has built them before—beautiful, affordable, precision-engineered, and scalable. At Vessel, you’ll help launch a product that gives people more than shelter: it gives them dignity, stability, and a future.
If you’ve ever wanted to change the world with your tools, this is your moment.
