About the roleWe're looking for a Senior Mechanical Engineer to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics designs and ships precision hardware. This is intentionally a deep ownership role. You'll own a core mechanical subsystem end to end while partnering closely with the rest of the engineering team on whatever is highest leverage at any given moment. This is a role for someone who loves taking a system from first principles to deployed hardware: you'll see a hard design problem, work it out on paper, validate it in the real world, and carry it all the way through fabrication and assembly. You'll touch every stage of the product, which means real ownership and room to grow quickly. The impact is significant: the subsystems you design become the machines that scale AI infrastructure worldwide, and nothing you own gets handed off halfway.
Responsibilities- Own a core mechanical subsystem end to end: design, hand calcs, FEA, fabrication, assembly, and validation
- Own precision motion and structural design: linear stages, actuators, bearings, and drivetrains built to tight tolerances under significant loads and moments
- Drive design decisions with first-principles analysis and trade studies across materials, stiffness, precision grade, and load paths
- Leverage our in-house machine shop and technician team to get your designs manufactured quickly
- Integrate tightly with controls, firmware, and software at the system level so the mechanical design works as part of the whole machine
Minimum Qualifications- 5+ years designing precision electromechanical systems that shipped or were deployed
- Deep competence in structural and precision design: ball screws, rack-and-pinion, bearings, kinematic constraint, and tolerance stack-ups
- Strong FEA and hand-calc fluency: you work things out on paper before you trust the sim
- Track record owning subsystems end-to-end at a fast-moving hardware company (robotics, aerospace, automotive, or similar)
- Comfort with ambiguity and a strong build-and-test instinct
- Hands-on machining experience: we have great technicians, but sometimes we make our own parts too
- Able to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days/week (6 days/week if needed during crunch time), embedded in the team
Preferred Qualifications- Experience at a robotics, aerospace, or automotive company shipping precision hardware
- Experience taking a subsystem from clean-sheet concept through deployment in the field
- Comfort using AI tools to multiply your own output
