Prototype Engineer

physicalintelligence; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

Physical Intelligence is seeking a Prototype Engineer to bridge R&D and hardware engineering, turning research ideas into physical prototypes for robots and actuated devices. You will design, build, and iterate electro-mechanical systems, ensuring reliability in real-world environments.

As an engineering generalist, you’ll work with researchers and engineers to deploy prototypes across platforms, from concept to scalable solutions for the fleet.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Mechatronics Engineering.
• 2-5 years of prototyping, R&D engineering, or hardware development experience, preferably in robotics or related fields.
• Proficiency in CAD software (Onshape, SolidWorks, or Fusion 360) with strong 3D modeling and drafting skills.
• Working knowledge of PCB design, electronics, soldering, wiring, schematics, and sensor integration (force/torque, IMUs, cameras, encoders).
• Hands-on rapid prototyping methods: 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC machining, sheet metal, and manual machining.
• Familiarity with robotics concepts (kinematics, actuation, compliant mechanisms).
• Ability to build end-to-end prototypes from mechanical to electrical, plus basic software scripting.

Responsibilities

• Rapidly design and fabricate mechanical, electrical, and sensor prototypes to support research experiments and engineering development.
• Partner with researchers to translate requirements into buildable hardware systems.
• Build end-to-end prototype systems from concept sketches to CAD, fabrication, wiring, sensor integration, and validation.
• Develop quick-turn PCBs, wiring harnesses, and cable assemblies for prototype electronics.
• Evaluate and select sensors, actuators, and off-the-shelf components for integration into prototypes.
• Design and iterate fixtures, jigs, test rigs, and tooling for research workflows.
• Perform hands-on assembly, troubleshooting, and debugging of electromechanical and robotic systems.
• Collaborate with electrical and robot software engineers to integrate hardware with control systems and firmware.
• Identify and address hardware failure modes in unstructured real-world environments.
• Document designs, test results, and build procedures to support knowledge transfer and iteration.

Skills

CAD Design

PCB Design

Soldering

Wiring

Schematics

Sensor Integration

3D Modeling

Python Scripting

Rapid Prototyping

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Mechatronics Engineering

Tools

Onshape

SolidWorks

Fusion 360

3D Printing (FDM/SLA)

Laser Cutting

CNC Machining

Sheet Metal Fabrication

Job description

Physical Intelligence is bringing general-purpose AI into the physical world. We are a group of engineers, scientists, roboticists, and company builders developing foundation models and learning algorithms to power the robots of today and the physically-actuated devices of the future.

We're looking for a Prototype Engineer, an engineering generalist who sits at the intersection of enabling research and deloying into real-world applications. You'll work closely with our research and engineering teams to rapidly design, build, and iterate on concept mechanical, electrical, and sensor prototypes that push the boundaries of what our robots can do.

This role is uniquely positioned between R&D and hardware engineering. You'll translate research ideas into physical systems, build end-to-end prototypes from scratch, and ensure our hardware performs reliably when interacting with real-world objects. You're the person both the hardware team and researchers come to when they need something built and rapidly iterated on. When successful, you'll be responsible for turning these into scalable solutions that support multiple hardware platforms in our fleet.

In this role you will

• Rapidly design and fabricate mechanical, electrical, and sensor prototypes to support research experiments and engineering development.

• Partner directly with researchers to understand experimental requirements and translate them into buildable hardware systems.

• Build end-to-end prototype systems: from concept sketches through CAD, fabrication, wiring, sensor integration, and validation.

• Develop quick-turn PCBs, wiring harnesses, and cable assemblies for prototype electronics.

• Evaluate and select sensors, actuators, and off-the-shelf components for integration into prototype systems.

• Design and iterate on fixtures, jigs, test rigs, and custom tooling to enable research workflows.

• Perform hands-on assembly, troubleshooting, and debugging of electromechanical and robotic systems.

• Collaborate with electrical and robot software engineers to integrate hardware with control systems, firmware, and runtime software.

• Identify and address failure modes specific to hardware operating in unstructured, real-world environments (contact forces, wear, thermal effects, cable management, etc.).

• Document designs, test results, and build procedures to support knowledge transfer and design iteration.

What we hope you'll bring

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Mechatronics Engineering, or a related field.

• 2-5 years of experience in prototyping, R&D engineering, or hardware development, ideally preferably in robotics, automotive, consumer electronics, or research lab environments.

• Proficiency in CAD software (Onshape, SolidWorks, or Fusion 360) with strong 3D modeling and drafting skills.

• Working knowledge of PCB design, electronics and comfortable soldering, wiring, reading schematics, and integrating sensors (force/torque, IMUs, cameras, encoders, etc.).

• Hands-on expertise with rapid prototyping methods: 3D printing (FDM/SLA), laser cutting, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, and manual machining.

• Familiarity with the robotics domain, with an understanding of kinematics, actuation, compliant mechanisms, and the challenges of hardware interacting with unstructured real-world environments.

• Ability to build full first-pass systems end-to-end, from mechanical structure through electrical integration to basic software scripting.

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to speak the language of both researchers and engineers. Translating abstract research needs or engineering requests into tangible concepts.

• Comfort working in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment where requirements evolve quickly and scrappiness is valued.

• Experience with basic scripting (Python) for test automation, data collection, or hardware interfacing is a plus.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.