Mechanical Design Engineer

Fieldwork Robotics; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Profit sharing

Hybrid work

Flexible hours

On-site parking

Casual dress

Company events

Career progression

Real-world robots

Job summary

Fieldwork Robotics is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to design, build and test our next generation of robotic fruit harvesting platforms. You will collaborate with hardware, software, and operations teams to deliver production-ready systems capable of operating on large farms worldwide.

You will contribute across the full product lifecycle, from concept and design through manufacturing, validation and field testing.

Qualifications

• Degree or HNC/HND in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent discipline.
• Minimum of 4 years of product development experience within a design and manufacturing environment.
• Experience designing robotics, moving machines, rotary machines or automation.
• Experience in full product development lifecycle for highly integrated mechatronics systems, particularly using 3D CAD SolidWorks.
• Experience with packaging electronics and cable and harness management.
• Ability to produce production standard 3D CAD models and drawings using SolidWorks, perform tolerance stack-up analysis and GD&T, and work with suppliers to improve manufacturability.
• Ability to lead projects, understand customer needs to support design decisions and interpret the impact of customer requirements on mechanical specifications, defining scope, and manage resources.
• Proficiency in handling multiple projects, meeting deadlines, and prioritising.

Responsibilities

• Design and development of the autonomous robotic platform for fruit harvesting.
• Cross functional team communication to manage design specifications and align scope with resource.
• Using systems/block diagrams to communicate architectural design changes clearly.
• Use rapid development tools to provide agile responses to engineering problems.
• Ensure designs meet commercial and functional requirements.
• Collaborate with suppliers to fabricate parts and build systems.
• Collaborate with electrical, electronics and software teams to verify and validate designs.
• Create technical construction file for safety and regulatory compliance.
• Create and manage the Design pack and Manufacturing pack.
• Support transfer to manufacture when fleets of robots are produced.
• Support design reviews including peer reviews.
• Contribute to continuous improvement and cost-reduction activities.
• Contribute to IP development and roadmap.
• Estimate resources and manage time to meet budgets and timelines.
• Support field trips for testing and validation at grower sites.
• Prepare and present technical updates to stakeholders, peers, board, clients and investors

Skills

Project leadership

Multitasking

Strong communication

Problem solving

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

3D CAD

FEA

GD&T

Job description

Company Overview

Fieldwork Robotics is a pioneering autonomous robotics company developing modular, multi-crop, soft and adaptive robots designed to operate in real-world, non-controllable environments such as agricultural fields. Our mission is to transform farming through intelligent, scalable robotic systems that improve productivity, sustainability, and efficiency.

We operate a growing R&D headquarters in Cambridge and are establishing a new engineering hub in Lisbon following the incorporation of our Portugal subsidiary. Our teams work collaboratively across hardware, software, and operations to deliver reliable, production-grade autonomous robots.

Job Summary

We are seeking a talented and enthusiastic Mechanical Engineer to join our technology team. In this role, you will design, build and test our next generation of robotic fruit harvesting platforms. You will collaborate closely with our electrical, electronic, software, vision. ML and data engineers. You may be involved in designing a new product from blank sheet of paper, improving an existing product or developing a concept.

You will have the opportunity to see your designs implemented into production and scaled to operate across large farms around the world. What we are developing has not been done before, you will be presented with very interesting engineering problems to solve.

Responsibilities

• Design and development of the autonomous robotic platform for fruit harvesting.
• Cross functional team communication to manage design specifications and align scope with resource.
• Using systems /block diagrams to effectively communicate and demonstrate understanding of architectural design changes
• Use of rapid development tools to provide agile response to engineering problems.
• Ensure the designs meet their commercial and functional requirements.
• Work closely with suppliers to fabricate parts and build systems.
• Work collaboratively with the electrical, electronics and software teams to verify and validate the products you have designed.
• Work collaboratively with the electrical, electronics and software teams to create the technical construction file for safety and regulatory compliance.
• Create and manage the Design pack and Manufacturing pack.
• Support the transfer to manufacture when we start to build fleets of robots.
• Support the design review process including the review of your peer’s work.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement and cost reductions activities.
• Contribution to development of IP portfolio and Roadmap.
• Resource estimation for your designs and management of your time and priorities to achieve agreed budget and timelines.
• Support occasional field trips for technology testing and validation at grower’s sites.
• Prepare and present technical updates to your stakeholders, peers, board, clients and investors

Qualifications/Experience

• Degree or HNC/HND in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent discipline.
• Minimum of 4 years of product development experience within a design and manufacturing environment.
• Experience designing robotics, moving machines, rotary machines or automation.
• Experience in the full product development lifecycle for highly integrated mechatronics systems, particularly using 3D CAD SolidWorks.
• Experience with packaging electronics and cable and harness management.
• Ability to produce production standard 3D CAD models and drawings using SolidWorks, perform tolerance stack-up analysis and GD&T to ensure design clearances and fits and work with suppliers to improve designs for manufacturability.
• Ability to lead projects, understand customer needs to support design decisions and interpret the impact of customer requirements on mechanical specifications, defining scope, and manage available resources.
• Proficiency in handling multiple projects simultaneously, meeting deadlines, and effectively managing priorities.
• Experience in design for manufacturing principles for a range of manufacturing methods, with working knowledge of injection moulding, casting, CNC, sheet metal, material selection.
• Experience using FEA to verify designs.
• Experience designing robot arm actuators and end-effectors/grippers from scratch.
• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and organizational skills with attention to detail.
• Excellent team working ethic with the ability to work autonomously with minimal supervision.
• Strong communication skills, communicate successes and challenges, not scared to ask for support.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and benefits package
• Profit sharing / share options
• Hybrid working model
• Flexible working hours
• On-site parking (UK)
• Casual dress
• Company events & social activities
• Career progression in a fast-scaling robotics company
• Opportunity to work on real-world autonomous robots deployed in production environments