Mechanical Engineer

Springcraft, Inc.; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Springcraft, Inc. is hiring a hands-on Mechanical Design Engineer to own the platform’s physical product design, starting with motion control systems. You will take internal assemblies from prototype to production and craft open-source reference designs for the builder community.

This foundational role defines how our hardware looks, feels, and integrates across the Springcraft platform. You will work on open hardware standards used by developers, researchers, and builders worldwide.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of professional or academic experience in mechanical engineering.
• Strong CAD skills using SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or equivalent.
• Experience designing for manufacturing.
• Practical prototyping experience.
• Understanding of GD&T, tolerancing, material selection, and basic structural analysis.
• Ready to own full lifecycle: design, prototyping, validation, and manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Design and iterate mechanical components and assemblies in CAD, including motor and actuator integration, sensor mounting, and cable routing.
• Specify hardware, tolerances, materials, and fastening strategies across the product line.
• Define open mechanical design specifications and review community contributions for compatibility.
• Ensure mechanical safety across moving parts and user-facing surfaces.
• Prototype using in-house and external fabrication (3D printing, CNC, sheet metal) with assembly and bring-up of early units, designing for manufacturability.
• Source mechanical components and manage supplier relationships.
• Own the contract manufacturer relationship for mechanical parts and assemblies.
• Own and maintain the master BOM, CAD files, and engineering documentation.
• Collaborate with Electrical and Mechatronics Engineers on physical integration and contribute to hardware architecture decisions.

Skills

CAD proficiency

Design for manufacturing

Prototyping

GD&T understanding

Tools

SolidWorks

Fusion 360

Job description

About Springcraft

Today, building robots and intelligent machines means navigating fragmented tools, incompatible hardware, and closed ecosystems. It takes too long, costs too much, and locks builders in.

About Springcraft

Today, building robots and intelligent machines means navigating fragmented tools, incompatible hardware, and closed ecosystems. It takes too long, costs too much, and locks builders in.

There is no default platform for physical AI. We're building it.

Springcraft brings together purpose-built hardware, developer tools, and AI models into one open, integrated system so that builders can create machines that sense, understand, and act in the real world.

Founded by the team behind 8th Wall, the largest AR platform for the web (acquired by Niantic), we bring deep experience in spatial computing.

Backed by Night Capital, Eric Semler of TCS Capital, Village Global, and exceptional angels, we're based in Palo Alto and hiring our core team now.

The Role

You will own physical product design across the Springcraft platform, starting with our motion control systems. You'll take internal mechanical assemblies from prototype to production and design the open-source reference designs for the builder community.

This is a foundational hire. You'll define how everything we build looks, feels, and comes together.

Springcraft is built on open hardware and open standards. Your designs will be used by developers, researchers, and builders around the world.

What You'll Do

• Design and iterate mechanical components and assemblies in CAD, including motor and actuator integration, sensor mounting, and cable routing
• Specify hardware, tolerances, materials, and fastening strategies across the product line
• Define open mechanical design specifications and review community contributions for compatibility
• Ensure mechanical safety compliance across moving parts and user-facing surfaces
• Prototype using in-house and external fabrication (3D printing, CNC, sheet metal) with assembly and bring-up of early units, designing for manufacturability
• Source mechanical components and manage supplier relationships
• Own the contract manufacturer relationship for mechanical parts and assemblies
• Own and maintain the master BOM, CAD files, and engineering documentation
• Collaborate with Electrical and Mechatronics Engineers on physical integration and contribute to hardware architecture decisions as the platform and product catalog expand

What We're Looking For

• 2+ years of professional or academic experience in mechanical engineering
• Strong CAD skills (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or equivalent)
• Experience designing for manufacturing
• Practical prototyping experience
• Understanding of GD&T, tolerancing, material selection, and basic structural analysis
• Ready to own the full lifecycle: design, prototyping, validation, and manufacturing
• Authorized to work in the United States, we are unable to sponsor work visas at this time

Nice to Have

• Experience in robotics or precision motion systems
• Experience taking a product from prototype to production in a startup or small-batch environment, including working with contract manufacturers
• Experience with sensor mounting, thermal considerations, or other electromechanical integration challenges
• Industrial design sensibility or experience with product aesthetics

Location

• Palo Alto, CA (In-Person)

Compensation

• Competitive salary ($100,000–$180,000) + meaningful early-stage equity
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Paid time off and holidays

Springcraft is an equal opportunity employer.