Mechanical Design Engineer, Plastics

Mind Robotics Inc.; Palo Alto, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Mind Robotics is seeking a senior mechanical design engineer in California to own the A-surface plastic components for our robot, from concept through production tooling.

You will translate ID surfacing into manufacturable parts, select polymers, define tolerances, drive moldability, and collaborate with tool shops to validate with PPAP and first-shot parts.

Qualifications

• Exceptional mechanical intuition and understanding of how polymers flow, shrink, warp and fail.
• 5+ years designing injection-m molded plastic parts for high-volume products.
• Deep knowledge of polymer materials science and how process conditions affect parts.

Responsibilities

• Own cosmetic A-surface parts from industrial design intent through production tooling.
• Develop Class-A surfaces and translate surfacing to manufacturable parts with GD&T.
• Define and own GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, and datum schemes across assemblies.
• Drive DFM/DFM for injection molding, including gate/ejector strategy and wall thickness.
• Oversee tooling kickoff, T0/T1 sampling, tuning, and PPAP with mold shops and CMs.
• Build and test prototypes using 3D printing, urethane casting, CNC, and soft tooling; validate via testing.

Skills

Mechanical intuition

GD&T proficiency

Tolerance analysis

Polymer materials knowledge

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.