Mechanical Engineer, Robotics Hardware

About the Role

As a Mechanical Engineer on the Hardware Team at Field AI, you will contribute to the design and implementation of mechanical systems that house and support sensing and compute platforms in real-world environments. Your work will be critical to ensuring our systems operate reliably in the field, spanning from ruggedized enclosures to thermal management and manufacturability. Responsibilities may cover the full lifecycle from CAD through production to field support. You will collaborate closely with electrical, compute, and systems engineers to build tightly integrated solutions ready for deployment in challenging field environments. While your focus will be on mechanical systems, you will likely contribute across all hardware domains.

What You Will Get To Do

• Mechanical System Design
• Design and model mechanical structures, including external enclosures, internal compute frames, and load-bearing chassis.
• Design and validate robust sensor mounts, payload attachment points, and mechanical interfaces.
• Implement IP-rated solutions with gaskets, seals, membranes, and coatings to meet water/dust ingress standards.
• Incorporate thermal mitigation strategies such as fans, heat sinks, conductive paths, and airflow guides.
• Ensure adherence to payload constraints, including tight volumetric envelopes and weight limitations.
• Mechanical System Implementation
• Build detailed SolidWorks CAD assemblies.
• Run FEA and thermal simulations to validate strength, durability, and heat dissipation.
• Select materials and components to meet mass, strength, thermal, and manufacturability constraints.
• Apply DFM, DFA, DFS principles throughout the design lifecycle.
• Conduct mechanical load testing (shock, vibration), thermal validation, ingress tests, and sensor alignment assessments.
• Rapidly iterate on prototypes for fit checks, thermal evaluations, and integration trials.
• Generate mechanical drawings, GD&T annotations, BOMs, and assembly instructions for fabrication and QA.
• Manage weight, volume, and thermal budgets.
• Mechanical System Production & Servicing
• Work with vendors and contract manufacturers to procure mechanical hardware.
• Develop QA checks for incoming units.
• Support payload integration and scaling.
• Investigate mechanical failures, deformation, and environmental weaknesses during testing and deployments.
• Develop protocols for monitoring system mechanical health and loads.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• SolidWorks or equivalent mechanical CAD platforms
• Familiarity with FEA and thermal modeling tools
• Experience designing hardware that survives vibration, shock, thermal cycling, and environmental exposure
• Experience designing for CNC, sheet metal, additive manufacturing, and assembly workflows
• Experience working across teams to integrate mechanical systems with compute, sensors, and power electronics
• Comfort with mechanical debugging, thermal test setups, vibration tables, and ingress testing
• Ability to contribute electrical, sensing, and embedded computing work to deliver robust integrated systems

Qualifications

• B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or related field
• CAD Expertise
• Thermal & Structural Analysis
• Field-Ready Design
• Manufacturing Knowledge
• Mechanical Systems Integration
• Lab Skills
• Cross Functional Robotic Skills

What Will Set You Apart

• Experience scaling systems from prototype to large-scale production
• Experience developing systems for harsh field environments
• Experience working on robotics deployed in real-world settings (e.g., autonomous vehicles, drones, ruggedized robots)
• Fluency across mechanical, electrical, and software systems in robotics
• Experience designing to meet IP ratings, MIL-STD, or equivalent ruggedness standards