Robotics Hardware Engineer — Prototyping (Robotic Arm Applications)

Girder AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Girder AI in San Francisco is seeking a hands-on hardware engineer to own the physical side of robot-arm prototypes, designing and building end-of-arm tooling, integrating arms with sensors and compute, and standing up work cells. You’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the software and learning teams to close the loop between hardware design and manipulation performance.

This is a hands-on role: you’ll spend most of your time at the bench and in the cell, prototyping with 3D printing, machining,

Qualifications

• 3+ years of hands-on hardware engineering experience with robotic manipulators or electromechanical systems.
• Proficiency in mechanical CAD and rapid fabrication.
• Experience designing or integrating end-effectors and fixtures.
• Practical electrical skills: harness design, wiring, troubleshooting circuits.
• Experience integrating cameras and compute with robot controllers.
• Ability to prototype, iterate quickly, and own problems end-to-end.
• Strong ownership: identify issues, fix them, and share learnings.

Responsibilities

• Design, fabricate, and iterate end-of-arm tooling and fixtures.
• Integrate robotic arms with sensors, cameras, and compute systems.
• Mount and calibrate sensors; develop hand-eye calibration workflows.
• Route cabling, harnesses, and safety interlocks for reliability.
• Build complete work cells and enable rapid test setups.
• Prototype with 3D printing, machining, and off-the-shelf parts.
• Run experiments, collect data, and drive root-cause fixes.
• Manage prototype BOM and coordinate with vendors.
• Document designs and procedures for fast rebuilds.

Skills

Hands-on hardware

CAD proficiency

Ownership & problem solving

Prototyping & testing

Tools

SolidWorks

Fusion 360

Onshape

Jetson

ROS 2

Job description

The Role

You’ll own the physical side of getting robot-arm prototypes working in the real world. That means designing and building end-of-arm tooling, integrating arms with sensors and compute, standing up work cells, and debugging everything from a loose crimp to a miscalibrated wrist camera. You’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the software and learning teams to close the loop between hardware design and manipulation performance. This is a hands-on role: you’ll spend most of your time at the bench and in the cell, not in meetings.

What You’ll Do

• Design, fabricate, and iterate end-of-arm tooling: grippers, custom fingers, quick-change tool interfaces, and task-specific fixtures (CAD through fabrication)
• Integrate and bring up robotic arms (e.g., UR, Franka, Fanuc, ABB, Kinova) — mounting, power, E-stop and safety wiring, network setup, and payload configuration
• Mount and calibrate sensors on and around the arm: wrist and overhead cameras, force/torque sensors, tactile sensors; own hand-eye calibration workflows with the software team
• Design and route arm-mounted cabling and pneumatics with proper dress packs and strain relief so harnesses survive millions of cycles
• Build complete work cells: arm pedestals, tables, part presentation fixtures, lighting, and safety guarding/interlocks
• Rapidly prototype with 3D printing, machining, and off-the-shelf components — choosing the fastest path to a testable setup
• Run experiments and data-collection sessions (including teleoperation rigs and demonstration capture), instrument failures, and drive root-cause fixes
• Manage the prototype BOM, source components, and work with machine shops and vendors
• Document designs, cell configurations, and assembly/calibration procedures so every rebuild is faster than the last

What We’re Looking For

• 3+ years of hands‑on hardware engineering experience with robotic manipulators, automation cells, or comparable electromechanical systems (strong recent grads with serious manipulation project portfolios also considered)
• Proficiency in mechanical CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or Onshape) and design for rapid fabrication
• Experience designing or integrating end-effectors — mechanical grippers, suction, or compliant/soft tooling — and the fixtures around them
• Practical electrical skills: harness design, crimping, soldering, reading schematics, wiring E-stops and safety circuits, debugging with a multimeter and scope
• Experience integrating cameras and compute (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson, industrial PCs) with robot controllers
• Comfort with the messiness of prototyping — improvising fixes mid-experiment, working around missing parts, iterating quickly
• Strong ownership: you see a problem, you fix it, and you tell people what you learned

Nice to Have

• Hands‑on time with collaborative arms (UR, Franka, Kinova) and their controller/SDK ecosystems
• Familiarity with ROS 2, MoveIt, or Python scripting for arm control, test automation, and data capture
• Experience with force/torque sensing, compliance/impedance‑controlled applications, or tactile sensing
• Machine vision integration experience: camera selection, lensing, lighting, and calibration
• Knowledge of robot cell safety standards (ISO 10218 / ISO/TS 15066) and risk assessment
• Experience building teleoperation or demonstration‑collection rigs for robot learning
• Pneumatics and vacuum system design; machining or welding skills
• Experience moving from one‑off prototype toward low‑volume production (DFM, vendor management)

$70K/yr – $300K/yr