JOB SUMMARYApptronik is seeking a
Senior Mechanical Engineer - Soft Goods / Gloves / Grip to lead the mechanical design and development of soft goods, robotic gloves, grip surfaces, and flexible protective interfaces for our humanoid robot, Apollo. This role is responsible for delivering robust, manufacturable, serviceable, and high-performance soft mechanical systems that enable dexterous manipulation, human-robot interaction, protection, sensing, and reliable operation in demanding real-world environments.
You will work across mechanical, electrical, controls, materials, manufacturing, systems engineering, and suppliers to develop innovative flexible and elastomeric components from concept through production. The ideal candidate combines strong mechanical engineering fundamentals with hands-on expertise in textiles, flexible materials, elastomers, grip technologies, sensor integration, and manufacturing processes.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES- Soft Goods & Glove Design: Lead the mechanical design and development of robotic gloves, flexible covers, soft goods, protective interfaces, and other compliant mechanical systems for Apollo.
- Flexible Textile Engineering: Design and develop products using flexible textiles and textile-based structures, including knit and woven constructions, engineered fabrics, and stretch materials. Select appropriate materials and architectures based on stretch, durability, abrasion resistance, flexibility, breathability, and environmental requirements.
- Advanced Materials: Develop and apply high-performance flexible materials such as UHMWPE, Kevlar/aramid fibers, nylon, polyester, elastomers, and other technical textiles. Evaluate material properties, constructions, and combinations to achieve required mechanical and environmental performance.
- Coatings & Environmental Protection: Develop textile and flexible-material solutions incorporating water-resistant, protective, and functional coatings. Design for environmental exposure, ingress protection, abrasion, contamination, and long-term durability.
- Grip Surface Development: Design elastomeric grip surfaces and compliant interfaces for robotic hands and manipulation systems. Select materials such as silicone and other elastomers and develop appropriate surface geometries, textures, durometers, and friction characteristics.
- Elastomer Manufacturing: Develop components using elastomer manufacturing processes including molding, overmolding, bonding, casting, and coatings. Work with manufacturing partners to optimize tooling, process capability, tolerances, and production quality.
- Sensor & Wiring Integration: Mechanically integrate tactile, pressure, force, and other sensors into gloves, grip surfaces, and soft goods. Develop robust strategies for routing, protecting, strain-relieving, and terminating wiring and flexible electrical interfaces within moving and compliant structures.
- Mechanical Architecture: Define mechanical architectures for flexible assemblies, attachment systems, retention features, seams, closures, reinforcement structures, grip interfaces, and interfaces to rigid robotic components.
- Protection & Performance Ratings: Design and validate products against applicable performance requirements, including cut resistance, ESD protection, thermal performance, water and environmental resistance, and ingress protection.
- Design for Serviceability: Develop soft goods and glove assemblies that can be efficiently installed, removed, inspected, repaired, and replaced in the field. Establish service interfaces and modular architectures that minimize downtime and simplify maintenance.
- CAD & Design Development: Create detailed mechanical designs, drawings, specifications, and prototypes using industry-standard CAD and engineering tools. Drive designs from early concepts through detailed design, prototyping, validation, and production.
- Prototype Development & Validation: Build and evaluate prototypes through hands-on testing, laboratory evaluation, and robotic system testing. Develop test methods and use results to drive design improvements in durability, fit, grip performance, flexibility, and reliability.
- DFM & Production Support: Partner closely with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and suppliers to optimize designs for manufacturability, assembly, cost, quality, scalability, and repeatable production.
- Supplier & Manufacturer Collaboration: Work directly with textile mills, soft-goods manufacturers, molding suppliers, contract manufacturers, and other partners to develop components, review manufacturing processes, resolve technical issues, and qualify production-ready designs.
- Cross-Functional Integration: Collaborate closely with Electrical, Controls, Sensors, Systems, Firmware, Manufacturing, and Robotics teams to ensure seamless integration of mechanical, electrical, sensing, and functional requirements.
- Reliability & Problem Solving: Investigate failures and field issues through root-cause analysis, develop corrective actions, and drive improvements in product reliability, durability, and performance.
- Technical Leadership: Mentor junior engineers, establish best practices for soft goods and flexible mechanical design, and provide technical leadership across robotic glove, grip, and soft-interface development.
SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS- Textiles & Materials: Strong expertise in technical textiles, knits/wovens, stretch behavior, seams, reinforcement, and high-performance fibers such as UHMWPE, Kevlar/aramid, nylon, and polyester.
- Protective Materials: Experience with coatings, water/contamination resistance, abrasion, tear/cut resistance, durability, and environmental protection.
- Elastomers & Grip: Experience with silicone/elastomers, grip surfaces, friction, durometer, texture, wear, molding, overmolding, bonding, and casting.
- Mechanical Design: Advanced CAD experience (NX or similar) designing flexible/rigid assemblies, soft goods, elastomeric components, and rigid-to-flex interfaces.
- Sensors & Electrical: Experience integrating sensors, wiring, connectors, and flexible electrical interfaces into moving or soft assemblies.
- Testing & Compliance: Familiarity with ESD, thermal, water/IP, cut protection, tolerance analysis, material characterization, reliability, cycle testing, and design validation.
- Manufacturing: Proven ability to take products from concept through prototype, validation, and production, including DFM, assembly, inspection, repair, and supplier/manufacturer collaboration.
- Hands-On Engineering: Strong prototyping, fabrication, troubleshooting, and mechanical problem-solving skills.
- Leadership & Communication: Excellent cross-functional communication; able to independently lead complex development programs, make engineering decisions, and mentor engineers.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE- Experience: 6+ years in mechanical product development, especially soft goods, textiles, elastomers, wearables, or flexible systems.
- Education: Bachelor's/Master's in Mechanical, Materials, or related engineering field.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times
- Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
- Hearing and speech to communicate
- Ability to work hands-on with prototypes, manufacturing equipment, materials, and robotic hardware
*This is a direct hire. Please, no outside Agency solicitations.
