Mechanical Design Engineer (Robotics)
Calder Search
San Francisco, CA0–4 yrs1h agovia LinkedIn
Job Title: Mechanical Design Engineer (Robotics)
Location: San Francisco, CA (on site, 6 days a week)
Salary: $150K–$250K+ base plus meaningful equity
About the Role
- Be one of the first mechanical engineers at a well-funded robotics startup building robots for industrial work.
- Build bi-manual robots that perform industrial labor, with ownership of the full stack: hardware, ML, and deployment.
- Join a small team of approximately 20 engineers from top AI and tech companies.
- Own the physical layer that all other components run on as an early member of the hardware team.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, prototype, and iterate on end-effectors, grippers, fixtures, and full robot assemblies.
- Build custom hardware rapidly, often in days to weeks (e.g., teleoperation leader arms, data collection rigs, custom assemblies).
- Own actuator design, integration, and FEA for arms and end-effectors handling industrial loads.
- Transition between quick builds that unblock the ML team and longer projects like custom arms and actuators.
- Collaborate directly with ML, electrical, and deployment engineers to translate manipulation problems into working hardware.
Requirements & Tech Stack
- 0 to 4 years of hands-on mechanical engineering experience in robotics, actuators, or hardware products (internships count).
- Strong CAD skills (SolidWorks, Onshape, or Fusion).
- Proven fabrication experience: machining, 3D printing, and building things yourself.
- Maker mindset demonstrated through personal projects, FSAE, Baja, motorsports, robotics, build clubs, or machine shop experience.
- Comfort with ambiguity, high ownership, and switching between short projects.
- A mechanical engineering degree is preferred, but a strong portfolio is more important.
Nice to Have
- Internships or experience at robotics, autonomy, aerospace, or hardware startups.
- DFM experience across machining, sheet metal, injection moulding, and additive manufacturing.
Why Join
- Opportunity to join the ground floor of a well-funded physical AI company.
- Real ownership: design, build, and see your work deployed.
- OPT and H1B transfers are supported.
To apply: include a link to your portfolio or project work. Applications without one will not be reviewed.