🥋 Mechanical Design Engineer — Exterior & Form

About the role

At Proception, we are engineering the next generation of highly dexterous humanoid manipulators. Our mission is to bring machines closer to human capability by merging innovative mechanical design, sensor integration, and intelligent control. We're looking for a full-time Mechanical Design Engineer to work on structural and actuation design for our humanoid upper body and hand systems—one who also has the eye and surfacing skills to own the exterior when design cycles call for it. Day to day, this is a core mechanical engineering role: mechanisms, prototyping, testing, iteration. Seasonally, you'll lead exterior and form work—covers, housings, and cosmetic surfaces—on top of the structures the team has built.

Requirements

• 011+ years of experience designing mission-critical mechanical systems for robotics or automation
• 02Mastery of CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion), FEA, and precision design—including surfacing for curvature-continuous cosmetic geometry
• 03Experience prototyping with your own hands—machining, printing, assembling, debugging
• 04Fluent in tolerance stack-ups, material properties, thermal constraints, and load paths
• 05Designed for real-world wear, slop, EMI, torque ripple, and backlash
• 06Demonstrated eye for form: shipped parts or a portfolio showing engineering work that also looks intentional
• 07Startup reflexes: you bias toward execution, learn fast, and document like it matters
• 08(+) Experience with humanoids, exoskeletons, prosthetics, soft robots, or tendon drives
• 09(+) Experience with testing and validation of mechanical systems
• 10(+) Working knowledge of CMF and finishing processes—anodization, bead blasting, molded textures, paint
• 11(+) Rendering skills (KeyShot, Blender)

Details & responsibilities

• 01Design high-DOF robotic arms and hands for dynamic manipulation—mechanisms, structures, and compliant systems
• 02Drive simulation, analysis, prototyping, and testing in a no-silos, build-it-yourself workflow
• 03Iterate hardware based on test data, field failure, or system noise—fast
• 04Lead seasonal exterior and form work: covers, housings, part breaks, and tendon/cable concealment over existing structures
• 05Design cosmetic parts as structural parts: impact resistance, cycle life, and serviceable fastening
• 06Define and qualify CMF—finish, texture, color, marking—with vendors for durability and repeatability
• 07Produce renders for design reviews, investor materials, and launch
• 08Collaborate tightly with controls, perception, and firmware teams to deliver integrated, elegant robots
• 09Write clear, transferable documentation for scaling what works—and killing what doesn't

Compensation & benefits

• 01Competitive salary and meaningful equity
• 02Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• 03Work with world-class researchers and engineers in AI and robotics
• 04High-ownership role with opportunity to lead mechanical and exterior design efforts
• 05Help define and build next-generation embodied intelligence systems