Mechanical Design Engineer – Humanoid Robotics

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

Mechanical Design Engineer – Humanoid Robotics

At Proception, we are engineering the next generation of highly dexterous humanoid manipulators. Our mission is to bring machines closer to human capability by merging innovative mechanical design, sensor integration, and intelligent control. We're looking for a full-time Mechanical Design Engineer to lead structural and actuation design for our humanoid upper body and hand systems. You'll work at the frontier of mechanical performance, electromechanical integration, and rapid prototyping to enable breakthrough physical intelligence.

Requirements

• 01 1+ years of experience designing mission-critical mechanical systems for robotics, aerospace, or automation
• 02 Mastery of CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion), FEA, and precision design
• 03 Experience prototyping with your own hands—machining, printing, assembling, debugging
• 05 Fluent in tolerance stack-ups, material properties, thermal constraints, and load paths
• 06 Designed for real-world wear, slop, EMI, torque ripple, and backlash
• 07 Experience with humanoids, exoskeletons, prosthetics, soft robots, or tendon drives
• 08 Startup reflexes: you bias toward execution, learn fast, and document like it matters
• 09 (+) Experience with humanoids, exoskeletons, prosthetics, soft robots, or tendon drives
• 10 (+) Experience with testing and validation of mechanical systems

Responsibilities

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

Benefits

• 01 Competitive salary and meaningful equity
• 02 Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• 03 Work with world-class researchers and engineers in AI and robotics
• 04 High-ownership role with opportunity to lead mechanical design efforts
• 05 Help define and build next-generation embodied intelligence systems