Lead Mechanical Designer, Humanoid Robotics & Hands

Proception Inc.; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Meaningful equity

Health, dental, and vision

Work with world-class researchers

High-ownership role

Job summary

Proception Inc. in Palo Alto is seeking a full-time Mechanical Design Engineer to lead high-DOF humanoid upper body and hand systems, focusing on structural and actuation design, prototyping, and integration with controls.

You'll design for real-world wear, performance, and reliability, collaborating with AI, perception, and firmware teams to deliver integrated humanoid robotics hardware. Experience with CAD, FEA, and hands-on prototyping is essential.

Qualifications

• 1+ years of experience designing mission-critical mechanical systems for robotics, aerospace, or automation
• Mastery of CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion), FEA, and precision design
• Experience prototyping with hands—machining, printing, assembling, debugging
• Fluent in tolerance stack-ups, material properties, thermal constraints, and load paths
• Designed for real-world wear, slop, EMI, torque ripple, and backlash
• Experience with humanoids, exoskeletons, prosthetics, soft robots, or tendon drives
• Startup reflexes: bias toward execution, learn fast, and document like it matters
• (+) Experience with humanoids, exoskeletons, prosthetics, soft robots, or tendon drives
• Experience with testing and validation of mechanical systems

Responsibilities

• Architect and design high-DOF robotic arms and hands for dynamic manipulation
• Build geartrains, compliant mechanisms, and tendon systems that outperform current state-of-the-art
• Drive simulation, analysis, prototyping, and testing in a no-silos, build-it-yourself workflow
• Iterate hardware based on test data, field failure, or system noise—fast
• Collaborate tightly with controls, perception, and firmware teams to deliver integrated, elegant robots
• Write clear, transferable documentation for scaling what works—and killing what doesn't
• Design and test mechanical systems for humanoids, exoskeletons, prosthetics, soft robots, or tendon drives
• Validate mechanical systems through testing and analysis
• Iterate on mechanical designs based on test data and feedback

Skills

CAD proficiency

FEA

Prototyping hands-on

Tolerance stack-ups

Materials & thermal constraints

Load paths

Humanoids/prosthetics experience

Documentation & execution

Testing & validation

Tools

SolidWorks

Fusion

Job description

Proception Inc. in Palo Alto is seeking a full-time Mechanical Design Engineer to lead high-DOF humanoid upper body and hand systems, focusing on structural and actuation design, prototyping, and integration with controls.

You'll design for real-world wear, performance, and reliability, collaborating with AI, perception, and firmware teams to deliver integrated humanoid robotics hardware. Experience with CAD, FEA, and hands-on prototyping is essential.