Robotics Mechanical Engineer

Mechanical Engineer Mid-level (L4 equivalent) 2-5 years

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The job description

Tech stack. Robot kinematics and dynamics, actuator selection and integration, harmonic drives and gearboxes, SolidWorks, FEA for dynamic and fatigue loads, cable management for moving axes, safety-rated mechanical design

About the role

You will design robot arms and manipulators at a company building collaborative robots for small manufacturers who need automation without fences or integrators. Your mechanisms must be precise enough for assembly work, backdrivable enough for safe human interaction, and clean enough that cables survive years of continuous motion through moving joints. You will own arm subsystems from kinematic concept through detailed design and lifecycle validation, proving performance on test stands before any robot ships to a customer. You will design robot structures, joints, and end-effectors that achieve the required payload, reach, speed, and repeatability. Your mechanisms will survive millions of cycles, and your designs will consider maintainability because downtime is the enemy of automation.

What you will achieve

Deliver robot arm subsystems meeting repeatability, payload, reach, and speed specifications, validated through lifecycle testing of at least one million cycles with performance tracked throughout.
Design joint architectures integrating selected actuators, gearing, encoders, and torque sensing that hit torque, speed, backdrivability, and safety targets simultaneously.
Solve cable and hose management through moving axes with designs validated by full lifecycle testing, eliminating the fatigue failures that plague poorly routed robot dress packs.
Reduce arm cost and weight through topology optimization, smart actuator selection, and part consolidation while maintaining stiffness and accuracy targets.
Support safety certification with analysis and test evidence for force limiting, pinch-point mitigation, and single-fault tolerance per collaborative robot standards.

What you will bring

Must-haves

2 to 5 years designing robotic mechanisms, actuators, or precision motion systems with real hardware outcomes.
Strong understanding of kinematics, dynamics, and actuator fundamentals including torque, inertia matching, and bandwidth.
Experience selecting motors, gearboxes (including harmonic and cycloidal), encoders, and brakes for robotic joints.
CAD and FEA skills applied to dynamic loading, fatigue life, and stiffness of mechanisms.
Familiarity with collaborative robot safety concepts per ISO/TS 15066 and risk assessment.
BS in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.

Nice-to-haves

Experience with joint torque sensing or series elastic actuator design.
Background in ROS or robot control interfaces sufficient to collaborate with controls engineers.
Hands-on experience building, instrumenting, and testing robot prototypes.
Knowledge of functional safety for robotic systems per ISO 10218.