Senior Mechanical Engineer - Dexterous Robotic Hand Lead

Front Door Defense; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Apptronik is seeking a Staff Mechanical Engineer to lead the structural design of a next-generation robotic hand. You will define multi-DOF mechanisms, balance dexterity with strength, and work with actuation, controls, and perception teams to deliver a safe, scalable humanoid hand.

You will mentor engineers, own design reviews, and drive manufacturability and production readiness for Apollo’s dexterous manipulation system.

Qualifications

• Lead technical initiatives and align cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience designing multi-DOF robotic hands or arms.
• Strong background in mechanical structural design and FEA.
• Familiar with tendon-driven or underactuated mechanisms is preferred.
• Experience with tactile sensing or force feedback integration is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own the robotic hand structural architecture and topology.
• Lead design of fingers, joints, and palm for dexterity and strength.
• Collaborate with actuation, controls and perception teams.
• Drive manufacturability, tolerancing, and scale-up.
• Mentor engineers and lead design reviews for dexterous systems.

Skills

Drive Through Influence

Surfacing Expertise

Subject Matter Expert

Packaging Mastery

Education: BS/MS in Mechanical Eng

Robotic hands experience

Biomechanics familiarity

Tendon-driven systems

Soft robotic structures

Tactile sensing integration

Education

BS in Mechanical Engineering

MS in Robotics or related field

Tools

SolidWorks

NX

Catia

Job description

Apptronik is seeking a Staff Mechanical Engineer to lead the structural design of a next-generation robotic hand. You will define multi-DOF mechanisms, balance dexterity with strength, and work with actuation, controls, and perception teams to deliver a safe, scalable humanoid hand.

You will mentor engineers, own design reviews, and drive manufacturability and production readiness for Apollo’s dexterous manipulation system.