Senior Mechanical Engineer

BurnBot; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity — Incentive Stock Options

Health, dental, and vision

Flexible paid time off

Job summary

BurnBot in South San Francisco is seeking an engineer to own major mechanical systems on ground fire-suppressing platforms. You’ll oversee concept through field feedback, guiding design, build, and release to ensure reliability in harsh environments.

You’ll work onsite with hydraulics, drivetrains, weldments, and GD&T while balancing make-versus-buy decisions. Expect occasional field work across the West Coast and a compensation package with equity and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• Experience owning platform-level mechanical systems end-to-end.
• Ability to balance make-versus-buy decisions for off-highway equipment.
• Familiarity with GD&T, weldments, tolerances, and field-friendly design.

Responsibilities

• Own platform-level mechanical systems: chassis, drivetrain, hydraulics, and structures.
• Lead concept, analysis, detailed design, build, and field feedback.
• Collaborate with vendors and shops; drive durability and test programs.

Skills

Mechanical design

Job description

• Location 340 Shaw Rd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, United States
• Base Pay $115,000.00 - $200,000.00 / Year
• Employee Type Exempt (FT)

About BurnBot

Wildfire has stopped being a season. BurnBot builds the machines that get ahead of it — remotely operated systems that apply and contain prescribed fire, and platforms that clear heavy fuel on terrain that isn’t safe for crews.

Our fleet is at work today for PG&E, CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service, Caltrans, fire districts, and tribal nations across California, Oregon, and Washington — treating land at up to 40x the pace of conventional methods. We’re roboticists, engineers, and career fire practitioners. Hardware we design in South San Francisco is in the dirt within weeks, and the people who designed it are usually standing next to it.

THE ROLE

Our ground machines do the heavy work: applying and containing prescribed fire, and chewing through fuel loads on slopes where crews shouldn’t be. They run hot, dirty, and remote, and they have to keep running.

You’ll own major mechanical systems on those platforms end to end — concept, analysis, detail design, build, and the field failures that teach you what you got wrong.

WHAT YOU’LL OWN

• Platform-level mechanical systems: chassis and weldments, drivetrain, hydraulics, implements, and the structures that live next to active fire
• Make-versus-buy. Off‑highway and agricultural suppliers already solve some of this well. Knowing when to buy and when to build is a big part of the job.
• The trades that matter most to us, roughly in this order: cost, weight, capability, and how easily a crew can run and fix it in the field
• Detail design and release: your own models, weldment drawings, tolerance stacks, and GD&T, plus the vendors and shops that build them
• Durability. Heat, vibration, abrasive dust, and 12‑hour shifts. You’ll set the test program and own what comes back from it

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• Platform-level mechanical systems: chassis and weldments, drivetrain, hydraulics, implements, and the structures that live next to active fire
• Make-versus-buy. Off‑highway and agricultural suppliers already solve some of this well. Knowing when to buy and when to build is a big part of the job.
• The trades that matter most to us, roughly in this order: cost, weight, capability, and how easily a crew can run and fix it in the field
• Detail design and release: your own models, weldment drawings, tolerance stacks, and GD&T, plus the vendors and shops that build them
• Durability. Heat, vibration, abrasive dust, and 12‑hour shifts. You’ll set the test program and own what comes back from it.

NICE TO HAVE

• Hydraulic system design, or mobile machine controls integration
• High-temperature materials, thermal barriers, or combustion‑adjacent hardware
• Time at an off‑highway, agricultural, or construction equipment OEM
• Welding, machining, or fabrication in your own hands
• Wildland fire, forestry, or land management background

HOW WE WORK

• Based onsite in South San Francisco — design, build, and test all happen in one building, and being near the machines is most of the point
• Flexible within that. You own your calendar: work the hours where you’re sharpest, and go remote on heads‑down days.
• Expect a few days a month in the field across California, Oregon, and Washington. Watching your work run on a live burn is the best part of the job.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Base salary: $150,000 – $200,000 — final offers reflect experience and demonstrated scope.

• Equity — Incentive Stock Options
• Health, dental, and vision
• Flexible paid time off

Burnbot is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including but not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with one or more disabilities, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

If you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at (415) 795‑9124 x 1010 or [e-mail].