Mechanical Engineer — Humanoid Robotics

Location: New York, NY — Onsite
Employment Type: Full-time
Team: Mechanical Engineering

About the Role

We are building and deploying humanoid robots designed to operate on real factory floors and perform meaningful work in demanding production environments. Our robotic arms are central to that mission, and we are looking for a Mechanical Engineer to help develop the hardware that makes these systems capable, reliable, and production-ready.

As a Mechanical Engineer, you will contribute to the design of robotic arms, chassis, and UMI, including joints, actuators, transmissions, structures, and end effectors. You will take mechanical subsystems from first-principles concepts through prototyping, testing, design-for-manufacturing, and deployment.

This is a hands-on individual contributor position for a Mechanical Engineer who enjoys working close to the hardware and has experience shipping real electromechanical or robotic systems. You should be comfortable thinking deeply about torque density, backdrivability, stiffness, durability, tolerance stack-ups, and manufacturability.

You will work closely with controls, firmware, and electrical engineering teams. Your designs will form the physical system those teams rely on to create clean, controllable, high-performance robotic behavior.

What You'll Do

  • Own the mechanical design of robotic arms end-to-end, including joints, actuators, transmissions, structures, and end effectors.
  • Design high-performance actuated joints and drivetrains optimized for torque density, backdrivability, weight, stiffness, durability, and cost.
  • Integrate motors, gearing and transmissions, bearings, sensors, and structural components into compact, human-scale assemblies.
  • Apply mechanical fundamentals including tolerance stack-ups, GD&T, structural and FEA analysis, fastener and bearing selection, and machine design.
  • Rapidly prototype using 3D printing and CNC machining, moving designs from breadboards to functional prototypes and ultimately repeatable production hardware.
  • Define and execute test plans, performance characterization, life testing, durability testing, and root-cause failure analysis.
  • Work closely with controls, firmware, and electrical engineers to ensure mechanical systems support accurate sensing and controllable behavior.
  • Drive design-for-manufacturing and design-for-assembly across the product lifecycle.
  • Collaborate with suppliers and contract manufacturers to transition hardware from prototype builds to production.
  • Lead mechanical design reviews, establish engineering standards, and contribute to raising the technical bar across the team.

Required Qualifications

  • BS, MS, or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a closely related discipline.
  • 5+ years of experience designing and shipping electromechanical hardware; advanced degrees may offset some professional experience requirements.
  • Hands-on experience designing robotic manipulators, actuated joints, or comparable high-performance mechanisms.
  • Experience with humanoid robots, cobots, legged robots, robotic arms, exoskeletons, aerospace or space mechanisms, or precision motion systems.
  • Deep knowledge of actuator and mechanism design, including motors, gearing, transmissions, bearings, and power transmission.
  • Strong mechanical fundamentals across dynamics, statics, machine design, materials selection, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
  • A strong design-for-manufacturing mindset, with experience designing components that can be sourced, assembled, tested, and produced reliably.
  • Expert proficiency with a major 3D CAD platform such as SolidWorks, Creo, NX, or Onshape.
  • Experience with PDM/PLM workflows.
  • Demonstrated ability to take mechanical designs from concept through validation and into manufacturable, shipped hardware.
  • Strong ownership mentality and willingness to work directly with prototypes, test equipment, suppliers, and production hardware.

Nice to Have

  • Experience designing dexterous hands, grippers, or other robotic end effectors.
  • Whole-arm or whole-body humanoid or legged robot design experience.
  • Experience with FEA, structural simulation, topology optimization, or lightweighting.
  • Thermal design experience for densely packaged actuator assemblies.
  • Experience integrating force/torque sensors, encoders, IMUs, or other sensing hardware into mechanical systems.
  • Familiarity with controls and robot dynamics, particularly the design of mechanical systems that are clean and controllable from a controls perspective.
  • Experience taking hardware from early prototypes through volume manufacturing.
  • Patents, technical publications, or competition robotics experience such as FRC, RoboCup, or DARPA challenges.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for a Mechanical Engineer who combines strong mechanical fundamentals with practical hardware judgment. You should enjoy solving difficult physical problems, iterating quickly, and seeing your designs operate outside the lab.

The ideal Mechanical Engineer is comfortable moving between CAD, calculations, machining, assembly, testing, and design reviews, while maintaining a strong focus on reliability and manufacturability.

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to building an inclusive and equal-opportunity workplace.