Founding Mechatronics Engineer (+ Equity) at Merista

Jack & Jill; Barcelona; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Merista, a Barcelona-based robotics company, is seeking a Founding Mechatronics Engineer to own the physical machine end-to-end. You will design and build hardware capable of operating in high-cadence, 2–4°C chilled environments, from end-effectors for fragile ingredients to hygienic enclosures for GPU compute.

This rare opportunity puts you at the forefront of hardware in a proven founding team. You will report to the CTO and lead hardware development from concept through production.

Qualifications

• Several years of experience designing electromechanical machines through to production.
• Expertise in mechanism design, sealing, and cycle-life arithmetic.
• Hands-on expertise in cobot integration and washdown/hygienic environments.
• Familiarity with European machinery safety standards ISO 10218 and EU 2023/1230.

Responsibilities

• Design custom end-tools and utensils for handling deformable, fragile, and irregular food ingredients at a target 3g accuracy within 3-6 second cycles.
• Engineer sealed enclosures for local GPU compute and complex sensor integration capable of withstanding daily high-pressure cleaning and continuous cold operation.
• Manage the complete hardware lifecycle, including component selection, BOM cost roll-ups, and building repeatable assembly processes for a small fleet.

Skills

Mechanism design

Sealing

Cobots

Washdown design

Hygienic environments

Lifecycle arithmetic

Job description

Job Title

Founding Mechatronics Engineer

Salary

Not Disclosed + Equity

Company Description

Merista is a Barcelona-based robotics company founded by the team behind REMY Robotics, which was acquired in 2025. They are building operated robots designed to automate manual tasks on chilled food production lines, leveraging years of experience from operating 10 robot-run kitchens and 15,000 hours of live service.

Job Description

As the founding mechatronics hire, you will own the physical machine end-to-end. You will design and build hardware capable of operating in high-cadence, chilled food environments, from end-effectors for fragile ingredients to hygienic enclosures for GPU compute. This is a rare opportunity to lead hardware development for a proven founding team.

Location

Barcelona, Spain

Why this role is remarkable

• Lead hardware from concept to production floor as the first mechatronics hire, reporting directly to the CTO and owning the physical machine end-to-end.
• Work with a high-pedigree founding team that successfully scaled and exited REMY Robotics after 15,000+ hours of live service across five cities.
• Tackle unique engineering challenges involving high-speed food handling, fenceless collaborative operation, and daily washdown requirements in 2-4°C chilled environments.

What You Will Do

• Design custom end-tools and utensils for handling deformable, fragile, and irregular food ingredients at a target 3g accuracy within 3-6 second cycles.
• Engineer sealed enclosures for local GPU compute and complex sensor integration capable of withstanding daily high-pressure cleaning and continuous cold operation.
• Manage the complete hardware lifecycle, including component selection, BOM cost roll-ups, and building repeatable assembly processes for a small fleet.

The ideal candidate

• Several years of experience designing electromechanical machines through to production, with specific expertise in mechanism design, sealing, and cycle-life arithmetic.
• Hands-on expertise in cobot integration, force-limited operation, and designing for washdown/hygienic environments found in food, pharma, or medical device industries.
• Deep familiarity with European machinery safety standards and conformity, including ISO 10218 and the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, or the appetite to own it fast.

We never post fake jobs

This isn't a trick. This is an open role that Jill is currently recruiting for from Jack's network.

Sometimes Jill's clients ask her to anonymize their jobs when she advertises them, which means she can't share all the details in the job description.

We appreciate this can make them look a bit suspect, but there isn't much we can do about it.