Senior Industrial Designer | Robotics arbeitnow Cell Labs Berlin · 10/9/2026

Primetime; Berlin; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Primetime in Berlin is seeking a senior hardware designer to shape the physical identity of our humanoids. You will carry design direction from concept to ship-ready CAD, translating concepts into tangible parts and surfaces.

You own safety-first geometry, integrate sensors and mechanics, and collaborate with engineers to ensure manufacturability. This onsite role offers hands-on prototyping, material choices, and an end-to-end design workflow.

Qualifications

• Degree in industrial or product design or an engineering degree with design strength.
• 5+ years designing physical products, preferably robotics or hardware.
• Experience with small-series production (hundreds, not millions).
• Knowledge of mechanical safety requirements, guarding and clearances.
• Proficient in surface modeling tools (Rhino, Onshape, SolidWorks or Fusion 360).
• Able to read mechanical drawings and explain design decisions.
• Fluent English; German is a plus but not required.

Responsibilities

• Shape the hardware identity and ensure proportions, surfaces and silhouette ship as intended.
• Design for passive safety focusing on clearances, pinch points and contact surfaces.
• Integrate sensors, cooling, connectors, and cable routing within the product package.
• Develop physical interaction cues and status signals for human use around the robot.
• Extend design language to charging docks, transport cases and maintenance gear.
• From model to CAD with surfacing and handover to engineering for manufacturing.

Skills

5+ years hardware design

Small-series production

Collaboration with engineers

Mechanical safety knowledge

Fluent English

Reading mechanical drawings

Education

Industrial or product design degree

Engineering degree with design focus

Tools

Rhino

Onshape

SolidWorks

Fusion 360

Job description

• Shape the hardware identity: Define how our humanoids look and feel: proportions, surfaces, overall silhouette. You take the design direction we already have and carry it through to physical systems that actually ship.
• Design for passive safety first: Safety sits in the geometry from the first sketch. You work through clearances, pinch points, contact surfaces and fall behavior so the robot is safe around people before software gets involved.
• Integrate complex systems: Package the internals (sensors, cameras, cooling, connectors, cable routing) so the technical parts look intended.
• Physical human machine interaction: Design status signals, touchpoints and small physical cues that tell the people working next to the robot what it is doing and what comes next.
• Build the ecosystem around the robot: Extend the design language to charging docks, transport cases, maintenance gear and packaging.
• From model to CAD: You build physical models fast, see what holds up, and change them until they do. Then you do the surfacing and hand over CAD that engineering can build from directly.
• Materials and processes: Select finishes, review physical samples, and work suppliers on feasibility, cost and lead times. You are willing to try materials that are not standard and to bring in specialized external labs.

Type: Onsite

Your tasks

• Shape the hardware identity: Define how our humanoids look and feel: proportions, surfaces, overall silhouette. You take the design direction we already have and carry it through to physical systems that actually ship.
• Design for passive safety first: Safety sits in the geometry from the first sketch. You work through clearances, pinch points, contact surfaces and fall behavior so the robot is safe around people before software gets involved.
• Integrate complex systems: Package the internals (sensors, cameras, cooling, connectors, cable routing) so the technical parts look intended.
• Physical human machine interaction: Design status signals, touchpoints and small physical cues that tell the people working next to the robot what it is doing and what comes next.
• Build the ecosystem around the robot: Extend the design language to charging docks, transport cases, maintenance gear and packaging.
• From model to CAD: You build physical models fast, see what holds up, and change them until they do. Then you do the surfacing and hand over CAD that engineering can build from directly.
• Materials and processes: Select finishes, review physical samples, and work suppliers on feasibility, cost and lead times. You are willing to try materials that are not standard and to bring in specialized external labs.

Your profile

• Background: A degree in industrial or product design, or an engineering degree where the design side is clearly the stronger half.
• Experience: Around five years or more designing physical products, in house or at a studio. Robotics, medical devices, lab and industrial equipment, mobility, or another field where the hardware has to hold up in front of people.
• Small series: You have worked on products built in the hundreds rather than the millions, and know how much that changes what a shape can be.
• Safety and regulation: You have designed under mechanical safety requirements before, so guarding, clearances and contact safety are familiar territory rather than a new topic.
• Tools: Surface modeling in Rhino, Onshape, SolidWorks or Fusion, plus 3D printing and enough workshop practice to build your own models.
• Working with engineers: You read mechanical drawings, keep up in technical discussions, and can explain why a design decision matters.
• Languages: Fluent English. German is nice to have, not a requirement.

Why us?

• Ownership from day one: The physical design and hardware identity of our humanoids is yours. Short decisions, no approval chains, and you work directly with the founders and lead engineers.
• Everything under one roof: Labs, workshop and test rigs are in the same Kreuzberg building. The engineer you need is a walk away, not a ticket.
• Room to get better: Paid learning time and a personal budget for it, projects where something is allowed to not work the first time, and support for portfolio work and conference talks as the company becomes known.
• Benefits: A benefits package you put together yourself, covering mobility, home setup, health or food. Plus one extra paid day off a year for volunteering or a project you care about.

This overview was written from the original listing to help you understand the role. Always confirm the specifics on the employer’s application page.