Design Engineer II

Feather Robotics; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Feather Robotics in San Francisco is hiring a Design Engineer with 2-4 years of hardware experience to own a robot subsystem from concept to production. You will join a tight-knit team shipping units and collaborate across mechanical, electrical, and software disciplines to bring hardware to deployed reality.

The role emphasizes hands-on prototyping, robust design reviews, and scalable fabrication strategies, with a focus on delivering reliable hardware for a humanoid platform.

Qualifications

• 2–4 years of hardware design experience in robotics, automotive, aerospace or similar.
• Experience taking hardware from concept to production or deployed units.
• Proficiency in core CAD tools and hands-on prototyping.

Responsibilities

• Own the design of a robot subsystem from requirements through production.
• Make independent design decisions and defend trade-offs in design reviews.
• Prototype quickly and develop scalable processes, materials and suppliers.
• Work across mechanical, electrical and software to integrate the subsystem into the full robot.
• Build, test, iterate and debug on real hardware.
• Write clear documentation: specs, test reports, drawings or schematics.

Skills

CAD Software

Prototyping

Hardware design

Design reviews

Documentation

Education

Mechanical Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Mechatronics

Robotics

Tools

SolidWorks

Onshape

Job description

About the job

We’re looking for a Design Engineer with 2-4 years of industry experience designing and shipping hardware. You’ll own a subsystem of a novel, top-secret product for our humanoid platform, taking it from concept to deployed reality within a tight-knit team that has been shipping units for the past year. Your background can be mechanical, electrical, mechatronic, or a mix. What matters is that you’ve designed real hardware and seen it through to production.

About Feather

Feather is a VC-backed startup assembling a world-class team to build general-purpose robots. While competitors pursue end-to-end integration, we are focused on creating the best labor platform on which others will build, monetize, and scale, fostering an ecosystem of solutions akin to Apple’s or Nvidia’s.

We’ve moved through the hardware lifecycle at lightspeed — building our first prototype in two months, fulfilling our first order in nine months (vs. 31 months for Figure), and working with a $4B revenue manufacturer. Our units are deployed across several fields today, including food service, retail, manufacturing, and more.

Responsibilities

• Own the design of a robot subsystem (mechanical, electrical, or electromechanical) from requirements and concept through production


• Make independent design decisions and trade-offs that you can defend in design reviews


• Prototype quickly and develop processes, materials and suppliers that scale


• Work across mechanical, electrical and software to integrate your subsystem into the full robot


• Build, test, iterate and debug on real hardware


• Write clear documentation: specs, test reports, drawings or schematics

What we’re looking for

• 2-4 years of industry experience in hardware design (robotics, automotive, aerospace or similar)


• Have taken at least one hardware design from concept to production or deployed units


• Proficiency in the core tools of your discipline (e.g., CAD such as SolidWorks/Onshape)


• Hands-on prototyping and debugging skills


• Bachelor’s or higher in Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics or Robotics Engineering, or a related field

Nice to have

• Robotics or complex electromechanical system experience


• DFM at volume (injection molding, PCBA, sheet metal)


• GD&T, or tolerance analysis


• Software or firmware fluency (Python, C/C )

Why Join Us

• Be the architect of a novel humanoid platform instead of working on only one small fragment


• Shape the future of robotics and physical AI in a talented, driven team that values ownership, speed, and creativity


• We have the capital, the hardware ownership, and the generational upside to make this your life’s work