3D Printing Engineer (FDM Hardware & Process)

Drucks; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Drucks is building the future of footwear with an end-to-end, on-demand production platform. You will own the print farm, making it faster, more reliable, and more capable week after week.

You will calibrate printers, develop robust production profiles, and document SOPs while collaborating with hardware, firmware and materials teams to push the limits of FDM printing in a footwear context. Join Drucks to scale manufacturing as new products and materials are introduced, solving problems with

Qualifications

• 3–7 years of hands-on FDM 3D printing experience.
• Strong understanding of printer mechanics, electronics and firmware.
• Experience assembling, modifying or repairing FDM printers.
• Hands-on experience with Klipper (preferred) or similar open firmware.
• Ability to diagnose hardware issues rather than simply re-running prints.
• Comfortable working with TPU and PVA materials.
• Strong understanding of process optimisation and print quality.
• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Mechanical, Mechatronics or Manufacturing Engineering.

Responsibilities

• Operate and optimise the print farm to improve speed and reliability.
• Calibrate printers and develop robust production print profiles.
• Develop SOPs and production processes from learnings and experiments.
• Diagnose mechanical, electrical and thermal issues to root cause.
• Work on Klipper firmware, macros and printer configurations.
• Bridge design, modelling and hardware with production reality.

Skills

FDM printing

Printer mechanics

Firmware troubleshooting

Hardware troubleshooting

Soldering

Process optimisation

SOPs / documentation

First-principles problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical/Mechatronics/Manufacturing Engineering

Tools

Klipper firmware

Fusion 360

SolidWorks

Python scripting

Job description

At Drucks, we're building the future of footwear.

Every pair we make is designed for one person, printed on demand, and manufactured through our in-house 3D printing technology stack. We don't buy machines and run them. We build them, modify them, improve them, and push them beyond what they're designed to do.

If you've ever looked at a printer and thought "I can make this better", you'll feel at home here.

This isn't an operations role. This is for someone who loves hardware, understands FDM printing inside out, and enjoys solving problems that don't have documentation or YouTube tutorials.

What You'll Do

You'll own our print farm and help make it faster, more reliable, and more capable every single week.

Your work will include:

Operating & Optimising the Print Farm

• Run and monitor multiple FDM printers across production
• Calibrate, maintain and continuously improve printer performance
• Develop robust print profiles for production

Process & Material Development

• Tune parameters for TPU, PVA and multi-material printing
• Optimise temperature, flow, speed, cooling, retraction and adhesion
• Handle moisture-sensitive materials and establish reliable material workflows
• Conduct experiments and convert learnings into production-ready SOPs

Hardware, Firmware & Electronics

• Assemble, rebuild and upgrade custom FDM printers
• Diagnose mechanical, electrical and thermal issues down to root cause
• Work on Klipper firmware, macros and printer configurations
• Troubleshoot motion systems, extruders, toolchangers, heated beds, drivers, thermistors, control boards and related electronics
• Commission new machines and validate hardware upgrades

Quality & Documentation

• Create and maintain SOPs, parameter libraries and troubleshooting documentation
• Build systems that reduce recurring failures and improve repeatability
• Track defects, identify patterns and drive corrective actions
• Work closely with design, modelling and hardware engineers
• Bridge the gap between digital design and production reality
• Help scale our manufacturing platform as new products and materials are introduced

What We're Looking For

Required

• 3-7 years of hands-on experience with FDM 3D printing
• Strong understanding of printer mechanics, electronics and firmware
• Experience assembling, modifying or repairing FDM printers
• Hands-on experience with Klipper (preferred) or similar open firmware
• Ability to diagnose hardware issues rather than simply re-running prints
• Comfortable working with flexible and hygroscopic materials like TPU and PVA
• Strong understanding of process optimisation and print quality
• Mechanical aptitude with printer assembly, maintenance and troubleshooting
• Electronics fundamentals including soldering, schematics and low-voltage systems
• Experience creating SOPs and production processes
• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in Mechanical, Mechatronics or Manufacturing Engineering

Bonus Points If You Have

• Experience with toolchanger or multi-material printers
• Built your own printers (Voron, RepRap, RatRig or custom machines)
• CAD experience (Fusion 360 / SolidWorks)
• Python scripting for printer automation
• Lean Manufacturing / Six Sigma / ISO exposure
• Experience in footwear or other precision consumer products
• Surface finishing, post-processing or material development experience

This Role Isn't For You If

• Your experience is limited to SLA or resin printing
• You've only operated commercial "plug-and-play" printers
• Hardware troubleshooting has always been someone else's responsibility
• You prefer structured processes over figuring things out from first principles

Why Join Drucks?

You'll work on one of the world's few end-to-end 3D printed footwear platforms.

Our team designs the hardware, develops the materials, writes the firmware, builds the manufacturing workflow and ships products that people wear every day.

You'll have real ownership, work directly with the founding team, and solve problems that don't exist in traditional manufacturing.

If you enjoy building machines as much as building products, we'd love to hear from you.