Mechanical Engineer

Motive; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental and vision coverage

401k plan

Job summary

Motive is hiring a Mechanical Engineer to lead mechanical design and NPI for automotive-grade connected devices. You will translate product requirements into rugged, production-ready hardware, including connectors, waterproofing, harnesses, and enclosures.

You will collaborate with industrial design, EE, RF, camera, and manufacturing teams to drive design validation, tooling, and supplier readiness, ensuring quality and cost targets are met.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in automotive product and mounting design.
• 8+ years of experience in product validation, including shock/drop, cycle, vibration, and environmental testing.
• 8+ years of 3D CAD experience; Creo/Pro/E or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical design and NPI execution for automotive-grade connected-device products.
• Deliver detailed part and system design, CAD models, drawings, and design documentation from concept through mass production.
• Own connector and waterproofing design from concept through production; select/customize automotive-grade connectors.
• Develop cable harnesses and interconnects, including wire selection, crimp requirements, and grounding.
• Lead design reviews and coordinate with cross-functional teams to trade off performance, reliability, cost, and schedule.
• Manage schedules, risks, and support NPI builds at manufacturing partners; travel as needed.

Skills

Mechanical design

NPI

Cross-functional collaboration

Creo/Pro/E

GD&T

Thermal/structural analysis

FMEA

Travel internationally

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Creo/Pro/E

3D CAD

2D drawings

Job description

Motive empowers the people who run physical operations with tools to make their work safer, more productive, and more profitable. For the first time ever, safety, operations and finance teams can manage their drivers, vehicles, equipment, and fleet related spend in a single system. Combined with industry leading AI, the Motive platform gives you complete visibility and control, and significantly reduces manual workloads by automating and simplifying tasks.

Motive serves nearly 100,000 customers – from Fortune 500 enterprises to small businesses – across a wide range of industries, including transportation and logistics, construction, energy, field service, manufacturing, agriculture, food and beverage, retail, and the public sector.

As a Mechanical Engineer at Motive, you will lead mechanical design and development for automotive-grade connected-device products, with a focus on connector and ruggedized waterproofing design. You will help drive NPI from early requirements and concepts through detailed design, validation, manufacturing readiness, and production ramp. You will solve technical challenges, develop prototypes and test solutions, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver products that meet product objectives and provide an exceptional customer experience.

You will bring hands‑on mechanical engineering expertise, creative problem‑solving, systems‑integration experience, and a strong understanding of mechanical systems, design processes, tooling, and materials. You will work iteratively, adapt designs as requirements evolve, and support multiple projects across the product lifecycle.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead mechanical design and NPI execution for automotive-grade connected-device products, translating product requirements and field-use conditions into design inputs, milestones, validation plans, and production‑ready hardware.
• Deliver detailed part and system design, CAD models, drawings, and design documentation from initial concept through mass production.
• Own connector and waterproofing design from concept through production, including automotive‑grade connector selection or customization, terminals, retention features, cable exits, overmolds, gaskets, O-rings, vent membranes, connector caps, and ruggedized enclosure interfaces.
• Develop cable harnesses and interconnects, including wire and terminal selection, crimp requirements,material and gold plating spec, shielding, grounding, bend‑radius control, strain relief, routing, retention, and supplier manufacturing requirements.
• Apply technical expertise to resolve design issues; lead failure analysis and validate corrective actions during development and for production or field failures, including connector, harness, sealing, and structural failures.
• Lead mechanical design discussions with internal and external cross‑functional teams—including industrial design, EE, RF, antenna, camera, audio, manufacturing, quality, and suppliers—to make effective tradeoffs across performance, reliability, cost, and schedule.
• Manage mechanical design schedules, supplier milestones, technical risks, and issue resolution; provide hands‑on support during NPI builds at manufacturing partner sites.
• Travel as needed to offshore factories to support NPI builds and production readiness, and to customer sites to investigate critical field issues and lead failure analysis (FA).
• Conduct design reviews, research materials and mechanical systems, and communicate project status and technical decisions to leadership as needed.
• Support design for manufacturability and process validation for injection‑molded plastics, sheet metal, die casting, machining, and relevant joining or sealing processes.
• Create and review 2D drawings with GD&T, datum schemes, CTF dimensions, material and finish callouts, and inspection requirements. Perform tolerance stack analysis and collaborate with manufacturing/process engineering and supplier quality on CPK, FAI, SPC, and process capability.

What We’re Looking For:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
• Experience designing waterproof enclosures and connector interfaces for harsh environments, including sealing strategies such as gaskets, O-rings, overmolds, and cable exits, and validating designs to IP67/IP69K requirements.
• Familiarity with USCAR, SAE, ISO 16750, IEC 60529, IEC 60068, or OEM‑specific requirements.
• 8+ years of experience in automotive product and mounting design, including hands‑on mechanical product development and NPI.
• 8+ years of experience in product validation, including shock/drop, cycle, vibration, and environmental testing.
• 8+ years of 3D CAD experience; proficiency in Creo/Pro/ENGINEER or comparable mechanical CAD, with the ability to create production‑ready 3D models and detailed 2D drawings.
• Strong working knowledge of GD&T, tolerance stack analysis, and mechanical design documentation; able to apply worst‑case and statistical tolerance methods appropriately.
• Experience with thermal and structural analysis or simulation, and the ability to interpret results and apply them to design decisions.
• Knowledge of FMEA, tooling and material/process validation, including SPC, Cp, and Cpk; experience defining CTF dimensions and supporting FAI and supplier process capability.
• Strong mechanical design‑for‑manufacturing experience with injection‑molded plastics and tooling; working knowledge of sheet metal, die casting, machining, and related supplier processes.
• Analytical problem‑solving skills, including experience with 8D, Six Sigma, DOE, or similar methods.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across global, cross‑functional teams.
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally to offshore manufacturing sites for NPI support and to customer sites for critical field issue investigation.

Motive offers benefits including health, pharmacy, optical and dental care benefits, paid time off, sick time off, short term and long term disability coverage, life insurance as well as 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements).

Pay Transparency
Your compensation may be based on several factors, including education, work experience, and certifications. For certain roles, total compensation may include restricted stock units. Motive offers benefits including health, pharmacy, optical and dental care benefits, paid time off, sick time off, short term and long term disability coverage, life insurance as well as 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). Learn more about our benefits by visiting Motive Perks & Benefits

The base compensation range for this role is:

$140,000 - $190,000 USD

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