Mechanical Engineer

Haptica Robotics; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Haptica is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to lead our hardware team from prototype to small-batch production. You will drive prototyping, testing, DF

M, and early supply chain, developing sensing boards, manifolds, valves, and heat-pressed softgoods while collaborating with Cosima and our design partners.

You will own mechanical design, pneumatics, softgoods, and some electronics/firmware, ensuring reliability and manufacturability for robotics customers.

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years in mechanical product design and at least 1 product brought to production.
• Strong CAD skills with preferred Onshape; SolidWorks or Fusion acceptable.
• Experience designing and running test protocols to ASTM or similar standards.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end build; create assembly SOPs, jigs, fixtures, kitting, BOM and inventory.
• Develop and run internal test programs to meet customer standards.
• Collaborate with contract manufacturers to transition to small batch production; balance quality, speed, and cost.
• Drive mechanical engineering roadmap for easy integration with hands and grippers.
• Collaborate with designers to ensure cohesive vision and design language.
• Define standards for PRDs, BOMs, and SOPs as team scales.

Skills

CAD

Prototyping

Mechatronics

Test protocols

Manufacturing readiness

Tools

Onshape

SolidWorks

Fusion 360

Multimeter

Oscilloscope

Job description

ABOUT HAPTICA

Haptica is building the standard for tactile in robotics.

We build pneumatic-based tactile sensing wearables for robots and people. Gloves and sensors that integrate across grippers, human hands, and robot hands. Teleop teams use Haptica to give human operators low-latency haptic feedback that replicates the pressure that robots put on an object. Data ops teams use Haptica to collect UMI, egocentric, and teleop data to train their models.

Haptica was founded by Dr. Cosima du Pasquier and Paola Peraza Calderon in early 2026 and is backed by top tier investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Leitmotif, NVP Capital, and Sarah Smith Fund. Haptica’s advisors include famed roboticist Rodney Brooks, Benchmark Capital co-founder Andy Rachleff, and haptics expert Allison Okamura.

We’re a small and mighty team of builders driven to unlock touch as the new frontier. The next 6 months for us are all about building high quality hardware, quantifiably establishing the impact of tactile data on learning policies, and hiring A-players that can help us scale in 2027.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for a Mechanical Engineer to join our hardware team and help take our glove from a working prototype to something we can build in small batch manufacturing.

We have a strong internal baseline already, and need someone to level up even higher. We're looking for someone to drive prototyping, testing, DFM, and our early supply chain. You'd help us develop our own sensing boards, machined manifolds, valves and fittings, and heat pressed softgoods. Expect your work to span mechanical design, industrial design, pneumatics, softgoods, and some electronics and firmware.

You'll join a passionate and talented hardware team. We currently have one mechanical engineer, one firmware and controls engineer, a contract electrical engineer and a fractional hardware lead. Expect to work closely with Cosima, Haptica's CEO to ensure that our technology delivers the level of reliability, robustness, and comfort that the world's best robotics companies are looking for.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own Haptica's build end-to-end. With help from the team, you'll own assembly SOPs, jigs and fixtures, kitting, and BOM and inventory. You'll manually build tens of units to own your craft. This includes designing enclosures, manifolds, fittings and fixtures that enhance our design across printed, machined, cast, and molded parts.
• Build out our test program. Protocols written to ASTM or similar standards (seal peel, cycle, abrasion, environmental), in house test rigs, samples and swatches for external labs. You'll own the testing that heavily informs design decisions and fulfills customer standards.
• Partner with supply chain vendors. Work directly with contract manufacturers to transition from manual assembly to small batch production. Help us define scope, testing, feedback on manufacturability, and balance quality with both speed and cost constraints.
• Integrate Haptica with customers. Partner with major robotics companies to bring Haptica into real-world teleoperation and deployment setups. Drive the mechanical engineering roadmap that makes integrating Haptica easy and reliable with hands and grippers of all kinds.
• Partner closely with our designers. Haptica is working closely with external industrial design and softgoods partners behind products like MetaQuest and The North Face. You'll bring engineering constraints to the table and drive a cohesive vision and design language.
• Set the standards for process and documentation. As we grow, how we write PRDs, BOMs, and SOPs will be increasingly important. Help us set a high bar and make the Haptica team unusually excellent at handing off work from design to manufacturing.

WHO YOU ARE

• You have 3 to 5+ years in mechanical product design and have brought at least 1 product from concept to production.
• You're excellent at CAD (Onshape preferred, SolidWorks or Fusion are ok) and bring good habits around top level assemblies and versioning.
• You understand the standards that robotics companies need to uphold to deploy in production, and have experience designing and running test protocols to ASTM or similar.
• You're comfortable with mechatronics. You've worked with sensors and custom boards, you can flash firmware and make small changes. You can use a multimeter and a scope to find a problem before handing it to an EE.
• You're a hands-on prototyper. You're good at 3D printing, operating a desktop CNC, machining, and managing fixtures to create an enhanced product.
• You have experience working with manufacturing partners overseas and understand the process of getting quotes, calibrating timelines, and adjusting design for manufacturability.

BONUS IF

• You have experience in pneumatics or fluidics (valves, manifolds, sealing, leak testing)
• You have experience in softgoods, sewn goods, textiles or wearables
• You've owned or managed DFM at a larger company and grew a product to scale

Haptica is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, or veteran status.