Senior Design Engineer - Actuators

Roboticsconnected; Mountain View (WY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Rhoda AI is seeking a Design Engineer to own the mechanical design of actuators for our generalist robots. You will translate system targets into manufacturable hardware, ensuring parts meet performance, manufacturability, cost, and reliability goals.

You will use CAD to create high‑fidelity models, define GD&T and datum strategies, and collaborate with modeling, test, and supplier teams to drive parts from concept to production.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or related field.
• 5+ years of mechanical design experience and full-cycle product launches in precision electromechanical hardware.
• Strong grasp of bearing selection, preload, gear sizing, shaft design, fits and finishes.

Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical design of motors, gear trains, and housings from concept through mass production.
• Create high‑fidelity 3D CAD models and 2D drawings with GD&T.
• Perform dimensional stack‑up analysis and define critical tolerances.
• Coordinate with suppliers and manage RFQs and feasibility reviews.
• Define test plans for durability and life testing.
• Support actuator characterization with fixtures and data‑driven iterations.
• Iterate designs based on test data and predictions.
• Collaborate across modeling, test, electronics, controls, and systems.

Skills

3D CAD

GD&T

Tolerance

DfM

Component ownership

Supplier coordination

Test planning

Data analysis

Cross-functional

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

CATIA

FEA

Job description

At Rhoda AI, we’re building the next generation of generalist intelligent robots. We own the full robotics stack from high-performance hardware and robot systems to the infrastructure and state-of-the‑art foundation world models that control our robots. Our robots are designed to be generalists capable of operating in complex, real‑world environments and handling long‑tail edge cases, made possible by our cutting edge research and end‑to‑end system design. We've raised over $450M and are investing aggressively in model research, infrastructure, hardware development, and manufacturing scale‑up to make generalist robotics a reality.

WHAT TO EXPECT

As a Design Engineer, you will own the mechanical design of the actuators that move our robots — motors, gear trains, and housings — from concept through prototype through production. Actuators are the dense, highly‑loaded subsystems where electromagnetics, structural mechanics, tribology, and thermal management all converge inside a few cubic centimeters. Every gram, every micron of tolerance, and every interface decision compounds across dozens of joints.

In this role, you are the architect of your components. You translate system‑level targets into manufacturable hardware, working hand‑in‑hand with modeling and test engineers to make sure the parts you draw are sized correctly, behave as predicted, and survive the duty cycles our robots see in the real world.

We operate as T‑shaped engineers. You must be a strong generalist across electromechanical hardware, but your superpower for this role is rigorous mechanical design — CAD, GD&T, tolerance stacks, and DfM — for precision rotating machinery.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• End‑to‑End Component Ownership: Own the mechanical design of motors, gear trains, and actuator housings from concept through mass production. You're accountable for performance, manufacturability, cost, and reliability of the components you draw.
• Detailed Design & CAD: Produce high‑fidelity 3D CAD models and 2D engineering drawings with comprehensive GD&T and datum strategies. Design for assembly, design for manufacturing, and design for the inspection methods your suppliers actually have.
• Tolerance & Interface Management: Perform dimensional stack‑up analysis on critical‑to‑function interfaces — air gaps, gear meshes, bearing fits, preload paths. Define and defend the tolerances that matter and open up the ones that don't.
• Supplier Coordination: Work directly with suppliers to ensure prompt delivery of parts. Run RFQs, technical feasibility reviews, and troubleshoot manufacturing issues during prototype and production builds. Build the kind of supplier relationships that get you parts on time when things go sideways.
• Test Plan Definition: Partner with modeling and test engineers to define test plans for optimization and durability of your components — characterization runs, life tests, environmental tests, and the failure‑mode‑specific tests that catch the issues a generic protocol misses.
• Characterization Support: Provide the mechanical engineering support required during actuator characterization — fixtures, instrumentation interfaces, teardown analysis, and the iterative design changes that come out of test data.
• Design Iteration from Data: Close the loop between test results, model predictions, and your CAD. When a part fails or a model says it shouldn't have, you're the one who figures out why and what to change.
• Cross‑Functional Integration: Work closely with modeling, test, electronics, controls, and systems engineers. Your components live inside a larger robot, and the best mechanical design in the world doesn't matter if it doesn't integrate.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
• Experience: 5+ years of mechanical design experience, including at least one full‑cycle product launch of precision electromechanical hardware. Robotics, automotive electrification, aerospace actuation, or industrial servo experience all translate well.
• Core Fundamentals: Strong grasp of machine design fundamentals — bearing selection and preload, gear sizing and tolerance, shaft design, fits and finishes, fastener engineering, and the mechanics of rotating assemblies.
• Technical "Superpower": Deep proficiency in CAD (CATIA preferred) and the ability to define datum strategies and tolerances from concept through production. You think in GD&T natively and use it as a design driver, not as decoration added at the end.
• Engineering Tools: Comfort interpreting FEA (structural, modal, thermal) to iterate designs, and the judgment to know when a hand calculation is enough and when you need the simulation.
• The "Owner" Mindset: Exceptional organizational skills, first‑principles thinking, and the ability to push parts through suppliers under tight timelines without dropping quality.

BONUS POINTS (THE "PLUS" LIST)

• Precision Gear Systems: Hands‑on experience designing or integrating harmonic drives, cycloidal drives, or precision planetary gearboxes. Familiarity with manufacturer catalog selection (ratings, lubrication, mounting) and the failure modes that aren't in the datasheet.
• Motor Mechanical Design: Experience with PMSM/BLDC motor mechanical design — stator and rotor stack‑ups, magnet retention, air gap control, bearing arrangements, and thermal paths.
• Manufacturing Depth: Knowledge of precision machining, MIM, die casting, gear cutting/grinding, or heat treatment, and the supplier base for each.
• Reliability Engineering: Familiarity with B‑life specification, fatigue analysis, and Weibull‑based life testing for wear‑out components.
• Robotics or High‑Cycle Applications: Prior experience designing actuators for legged robots, manipulators, EVs, or other high‑cycle electromechanical systems.
• Dual‑Hat Experience: Background spanning both Design Engineering and Manufacturing/Quality Engineering.