Structural Systems Engineer

Overview

Ready to play a key role in building the future of living? Join Samara in tackling California’s housing shortage and enabling people to attain sustainable housing without compromising design or quality. Our flagship product, Backyard, is a fully turnkey, premium accessory dwelling unit (ADU) designed for homeowners and real estate developers. As we expand our offerings and scale our in-house development initiatives, we’re at a pivotal moment, redefining homeownership through high-quality, attainable infill housing. Backed by top-tier investors, including Airbnb, Thrive Capital, and 8VC, Samara is positioned for significant growth and market impact.

To support our next phase of growth, we’re hiring product-focused engineers to advance and scale the technical foundation of our modular system. These roles go beyond traditional design work—they refine system standards, improve factory repeatability, and ensure our units are code-compliant, manufacturable, and built to the highest standards of quality and performance.

The Structural Systems Engineer will serve as Samara’s in-house structural engineering expert. This role requires deep knowledge of cold-formed steel design, code compliance, and hands-on experience in modular construction and offsite manufacturing.

In addition to core structural responsibilities, the role demands a strong focus on designing for lifting, transportation, site installation, and factory workflows. Success requires fluency in Design for Assembly (DFA), tolerance management, and the creation of production-ready, repeatable detailing.

You’ll lead the development of scalable and efficient structural systems across Samara’s full product line—driving standardization of framing design and working closely with architectural, MEP, and factory teams to ensure Samara’s structural solutions balance performance with real-world constraints—from shipping logistics to in-factory build sequencing.

What You'll Do

- Serve as the in-house structural authority for all volumetric modular designs, primarily light gauge steel.

- Perform and review calculations to ensure compliance with state and local building code requirements.

- Develop and maintain standard structural details and repeatable assemblies optimized for factory-built construction.

- Design structural systems that account for lifting, rigging, and transportation loads, including craning and over-the-road transit.

- Develop repeatable shipping and handling strategies that reduce cost and simplify logistics while preserving structural performance.

- Support integration of structural systems with mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and architectural layouts.

- Contribute to 3D modeling workflows and the development of reusable structural libraries in collaboration with the broader engineering team.

- Work crossfunctionally to enable Design for Assembly (DFA) by supporting fixture/jig design and sequencing in collaboration with factory teams.

- Provide cross-functional technical leadership during design reviews, prototyping, and early product trials.

What We're Looking For

- Minimum of 7 years of experience in structural engineering, ideally with a California Professional Engineer (PE) or Structural Engineer (SE) license.

- Modular construction experience in factory builds, multi-mod, stackable and/or other hands on related experience.

- Bachelor’s degree in Civil or Structural Engineering, or a related field.

- Proven expertise in cold-formed steel framing, connection detailing, and structural code compliance (IBC, ASCE 7, AISI, AISC).

- Experience applying Design for Assembly (DFA) and Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles in real-world environments.

- Proficiency in structural analysis tools such as RISA, SAP2000, ETABS, or similar.

- Familiarity with 3D modeling tools such as Onshape, SolidWorks, Inventor, or Revit; must be comfortable reviewing models and contributing to digital design workflows.

- Demonstrated understanding of modular transportation loads, craning/lifting requirements, and regulatory constraints for road transport in California.

- Hands-on mindset with willingness to travel to and engage with the factory floor to validate design intent and troubleshoot manufacturing issues in realtime.

- Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills, especially with architecture, permitting, and factory teams.

- Ability to travel to our factory in Mexico up to 25-40%.

What We Offer

- Salary range of $120-160K and performance-based bonuses.

- Hybrid work schedule with 3 days each week in our Redwood City office.

- Snacks and Lunch on in-office days

- Early stage employee equity.

- Exceptional health, dental, and vision insurance.

- 401k eligibility after 6 months.

- Flexible PTO policy.

How to Apply

If you're excited to support Samara’s mission and have the skills to match, we’d love to hear from you. Please submit your resume and a brief letter of introduction to our team.

Let’s build something extraordinary—together.