Robotics Hardware Engineer

About Ixian

Ixian Robotics is building intelligent machines to reindustrialize America. We’re based in San Francisco and backed by a16z and Accel.

We believe robotics is a full-stack problem. Software, hardware, and machine learning are only part of it. Bridging advances in robot learning with America’s industrial base requires invention in how we understand customers, design products, navigate supply chains, and make the economics work. We’re building a company that takes responsibility for all of it.

At Ixian, deployment isn’t the final step after the “real innovation” is complete. Deploying robots is the point of robotics, and deployment is our forcing function for innovation. Putting a machine to work reveals what the lab can’t: what breaks, what matters to the people using it, and what it will take to make our machines indispensable.

Robots are called machines when they work. We intend to build machines.

About the role

As a robotics hardware engineer you'll be designing and building the mechanical systems behind Ixian's robots. You will take extreme ownership of your hardware, from design requirements, to concept design, to building prototypes, designing test suites, designing for manufacturing, and ensuring reliable field performance. The scope of work will span mechanism design, actuation, structural component design, electronics integration, and field deployment.

You will be the responsible engineer for all of the hardware you produce. Every engineering decision you make must be reasoned from physics first principles and you must be able to communicate this reasoning effectively to the team. A strong analytical background is required, but your approach to problem solving must be pragmatic, grounded, and rapid. When failures occur or requirements change, you must be able to iterate or pivot rapidly.

What you’ll do

• Design mechanical parts and assemblies in CAD, with dimensioned drawings and well reasoned tolerance stackups.
• Correctly select and design for the tradeoffs of various manufacturing processes, such as 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal forming, injection molding, etc.
• Select and size actuators, bearings, power transmission components, and other off the shelf hardware for load, speed, precision, and lifespan requirements.
• Fabricate and assemble prototypes, and create assembly work instructions.
• Collaborate with electrical engineers, software engineers, and operations leads. Mechanically integrate sensors, electronics, and cabling.
• Build test fixtures and create calibration procedures; measure stiffness, repeatability, wear, and thermal performance. Predict fatigue and mechanical failure of components.
• Work with suppliers on manufacturability, maintain bills of materials, and clearly document designs.

What you’ll bring

• Experience taking mechanical designs or systems through fabrication, testing, and real world deployment, with examples you can discuss. GD&T fundamentals are a plus.
• Proficiency in one or more mechanical CAD tools, with a strong understanding of tolerancing, material-selection, and manufacturing processes.
• Practical understanding of loading, stiffness, friction, deformation, material properties, environmental effects, and other fundamentals, with experience applying that knowledge and making tradeoffs to meet design requirements.
• Confidence building and modifying prototypes.
• The ability to define an engineering problem, drive changes with concrete data, and produce effective solutions.

Useful experience

• Robot integration, mechanism design, actuator mechanics, mechanical interfaces, gearboxes, arm kinematics, or end effectors is a plus.
• High volume manufacturing experience, process development, or experience designing for scale production is a plus.

Location: San Francisco · On-site

Schedule: Full-time

Base salary: 150,000–200,000 per year

Equity: 0.1%–1%

Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision coverage.

Equal opportunity

Ixian Robotics is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.