Hands-on Robotics Prototyping Engineer

Girder AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Girder AI in San Francisco is seeking a hands-on hardware engineer to own the physical side of robot-arm prototypes, designing and building end-of-arm tooling, integrating arms with sensors and compute, and standing up work cells. You’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the software and learning teams to close the loop between hardware design and manipulation performance.

This is a hands-on role: you’ll spend most of your time at the bench and in the cell, prototyping with 3D printing, machining,

Qualifications

• 3+ years of hands-on hardware engineering experience with robotic manipulators or electromechanical systems.
• Proficiency in mechanical CAD and rapid fabrication.
• Experience designing or integrating end-effectors and fixtures.
• Practical electrical skills: harness design, wiring, troubleshooting circuits.
• Experience integrating cameras and compute with robot controllers.
• Ability to prototype, iterate quickly, and own problems end-to-end.
• Strong ownership: identify issues, fix them, and share learnings.

Responsibilities

• Design, fabricate, and iterate end-of-arm tooling and fixtures.
• Integrate robotic arms with sensors, cameras, and compute systems.
• Mount and calibrate sensors; develop hand-eye calibration workflows.
• Route cabling, harnesses, and safety interlocks for reliability.
• Build complete work cells and enable rapid test setups.
• Prototype with 3D printing, machining, and off-the-shelf parts.
• Run experiments, collect data, and drive root-cause fixes.
• Manage prototype BOM and coordinate with vendors.
• Document designs and procedures for fast rebuilds.

Skills

Hands-on hardware

CAD proficiency

Ownership & problem solving

Prototyping & testing

Tools

SolidWorks

Fusion 360

Onshape

Jetson

ROS 2

Job description

Girder AI in San Francisco is seeking a hands-on hardware engineer to own the physical side of robot-arm prototypes, designing and building end-of-arm tooling, integrating arms with sensors and compute, and standing up work cells. You’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the software and learning teams to close the loop between hardware design and manipulation performance.

This is a hands-on role: you’ll spend most of your time at the bench and in the cell, prototyping with 3D printing, machining,