Mechanical Design Engineer, Robotic Actuators

Dexmate; Fremont (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Dexmate in Fremont, CA seeks a hands-on mechanical or mechatronics engineer to own the actuator architecture for its robot platforms. You will translate requirements into a robust integrated actuator design balancing torque, speed, mass, efficiency and thermal limits, while coordinating across teams.

You will lead prototype builds, drive trade studies, set interfaces, and guide production release with clear criteria and rigorous testing.

Qualifications

• Delivered actuator or electro-mechanical drive into production with architecture ownership.
• Strong mechanical/mechatronic design for motors, transmissions, thermal behavior, sensors, and drive limits.
• Ability to quantify system trade-offs using analysis, bench data, and failure investigations.

Responsibilities

• Define actuator requirements from robot loads and duty cycles, including torque, speed, stiffness, life, and thermal limits.
• Lead trade studies across motor topology, transmission ratio, bearings, cooling, sensing and drive constraints.
• Set mechanical, electrical and firmware interfaces, including voltage/current limits and fault responses.
• Lead prototype builds and debugging; own CAD reviews and bench testing decisions.
• Develop characterization plans with motor, drive, controls and test engineers; correlate results to models.
• Drive design reviews, supplier decisions, DFM and production release with clear requirements.

Skills

Actuator design

Mechanical design

Trade-off analysis

Prototype testing

Cross-disciplinary leadership

Tools

CAD

FEA

Job description

ABOUT DEXMATE

Dexmate is building robot platforms and a universal Physical AI OS to make robots easier to build and deploy. We combine hardware and software into a plug‑and‑play platform for developers, researchers and enterprises, with an open ecosystem that supports the development of physical AI.

THE ROLE

We are looking for a hands‑on mechanical or mechatronics engineer to own the architecture of integrated actuators for Dexmate robots. You will translate robot requirements into an actuator design that balances torque, speed, mass, efficiency, backdrivability, thermal capacity and manufacturability. You will make technical trade‑offs, build and test hardware, and bring specialists together around a verified design.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Define actuator requirements from robot loads and duty cycles, including peak and continuous torque, speed, stiffness, life, packaging and thermal limits.
• Own trade studies across motor topology, transmission ratio, bearings, cooling, sensing and drive constraints; use measured performance to resolve competing requirements.
• Set mechanical, electrical and firmware interfaces, including voltage and current limits, sensor placement, allowable temperatures and fault responses.
• Lead prototype builds and hands‑on debugging. Maintain direct ownership of CAD and analysis reviews, bench debugging and technical decisions.
• Develop characterization plans with motor, drive, controls and test engineers; correlate torque‑speed, efficiency, thermal, friction and backdrivability results to models.
• Drive design reviews, supplier decisions, DFM and corrective actions through production release, with clear requirements and acceptance criteria.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Delivered an integrated actuator, servo or electromechanical drive into a production or deployed product, with direct ownership of architecture and hardware decisions.
• Strong depth in mechanical or mechatronic design and working understanding of motors, transmissions, thermal behavior, sensors and drive limitations.
• Ability to quantify system trade‑offs and explain how analysis, bench data and failure investigation changed a design.
• Hands‑on experiencewith prototyping, validation, supplier collaboration and manufacturing release;abilityto lead across engineering disciplines.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in robot joints, industrial drives, EV drive units or aerospace electromechanical actuators.
• Experience with high torque‑density or backdrivable actuators and compact liquid‑cooled assemblies.
• Technical mentorship and ownership of a subsystem roadmap without losing direct design and test involvement.