Mechanical Design Engineer, Plastics

Roboticsconnected; Iowa; On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Mind Robotics is seeking an experienced Mechanical Designer to own A‑surface cosmetic parts for robotic systems. You will translate industrial design intent into production tooling, define tolerances, and ensure parts meet appearance standards while optimizing manufacturability.

You will collaborate with tool shops and contract manufacturers, build prototypes, and validate parts through testing, aiming for robust high‑volume production in robotics applications.

Qualifications

• 5+ years designing injection‑m molded plastic parts for high‑volume robotics, automotive, or consumer products.
• Deep knowledge of polymer materials science and processing effects on part behavior.
• Fluent GD&T per ASME Y14.5 or ISO GPS with worst‑case and stack‑up analysis.
• Proven experience owning cosmetic A‑surface parts and defending appearance standards with vendors.
• Strong surfacing skills in SolidWorks, CATIA, NX, Creo or equivalents.

Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical design of A-surface plastic components for the robot, from concept through production tooling.
• Develop Class‑A surfaces and translate surfacing into manufacturable parts with tight tolerances.
• Define DFMs for injection molding, including gate, ejector, wall thickness, and draft.
• Oversee tool shops, molders, and CM partners through tooling kickoff and first shots.
• Build and test prototypes via 3D printing, casting, CNC, and validate with tests.

Skills

Mechanical intuition

Polymer materials science

Surfacing proficiency

GD&T proficiency

Cosmetic A-surface ownership

Tools

SolidWorks

CATIA

NX

Creo

Job description

ABOUT MIND

Mind Robotics is building Physical AI for real-world industrial deployment, starting with the factory floor. We believe the hardest problems in AI are solved when researchers and engineers are hands‑on with the physical world every day - and we're looking for people who are passionate about robotics, value ownership, and are excited to tackle difficult problems.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own the mechanical design of A-surface plastic components for the robot — covers, skins, shrouds, bezels, and cosmetic enclosures — from industrial design intent through production tooling.
• Develop Class‑A surfaces and translate ID surfacing into manufacturable parts, holding gap‑and‑flush, parting line, draft, and aesthetic intent across the full assembly.
• Select polymers and processes across the cosmetic stack: ABS, PC, PC/ABS, PA and glass‑filled grades, TPU/TPE, and specialty resins — balancing appearance, impact and creep behavior, chemical and UV resistance, flammability, and cost.
• Define and own GD&T, tolerance stack‑ups, and datum schemes across multi‑part plastic assemblies and their interfaces to structures, actuators, and electronics.
• Drive DFM and DFA for injection molding, insert molding, overmolding, and secondary operations — gate and ejector strategy, wall thickness, ribbing and boss design, warp and sink mitigation, and shutoff design.
• Own cosmetic specification: textures, gloss levels, color matching, painting, plating, laser etching, and in‑mold decoration, plus the defect standards and limit samples that go with them.
• Work directly with tool shops, molders, and CMs through tool kickoff, T0/T1 sampling, tuning, and PPAP — reviewing mold flow, tool design, and first‑shot parts, and driving corrective action.
• Build and test prototypes using 3D printing, urethane casting, CNC, and soft tooling, then validate with drop, structural, and environmental testing.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Exceptional mechanical intuition. You understand how polymers flow, shrink, warp, and fail — and you can predict it before the tool is cut.
• 5+ years designing injection‑molded plastic parts for high‑volume consumer, automotive, or robotics products, with parts you took from CAD through production tooling.
• Deep, hands‑on knowledge of polymer materials science: resin families, fillers and additives, anisotropy, moisture sensitivity, and how process conditions change part behavior.
• Fluent in GD&T (ASME Y14.5 or ISO GPS) and tolerance analysis, including worst‑case and statistical stack‑ups on compliant plastic parts.
• Proven experience owning cosmetic A‑surface parts and defending appearance standards with vendors.
• Strong surfacing skills in SolidWorks, CATIA, NX, Creo, or similar; comfort reading mold flow results and tool drawings.
• Comfortable with ambiguity, moves fast, and curious about how the whole system works.