Senior Mechanical Engineer, PCBA Test Fixtures for Robotics

OpenAI, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 318,000 - 423,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid parental leave

Relocation support

Job summary

OpenAI, Inc. is seeking a Mechanical Engineer for a senior individual-contributor role to lead PCBA test infrastructure for our robotics platform in San Francisco.

You will own fixture design from concept to fabrication and deployment, coordinating with electrical, firmware, software, manufacturing, and reliability teams. The role emphasizes hands-on lab work, collaboration with contract manufacturers, and deployment at scale with emphasis on repeatability, protection of delicate assemblies, and

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to independently deliver precision-fixture or equipment projects from ambiguous requirements through detailed design, fabrication, validation, and sustained use.
• Strong 3D CAD and released-drawing capability, including complete fabrication and assembly packages, BOMs, and revision control.
• Strong fundamentals in GD&T, tolerance analysis, locating schemes, stiffness, compliance, contact forces, and load paths.
• Hands-on ability to work with fabrication partners, assemble and measure fixtures, diagnose failures, and iterate hardware in a lab or manufacturing environment.
• Ability to define and execute fixture acceptance checks for alignment, force, repeatability, wear, and safe operation, using evidence to distinguish fixture problems from product variation.
• Ability to communicate interfaces and tradeoffs across electrical, software, manufacturing, and operations teams and support deployment and troubleshooting at contract manufacturers.

Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical architecture of PCBA test stations, including frames, board nests, datum schemes, access, guarding, ergonomics, and serviceability.
• Design probe and bed-of-nails fixtures, connector-mating mechanisms, board supports, clamps, and interchangeable tooling for programming, functional test, and characterization.
• Use first-principles analysis and simulation to assess stiffness, probe and insertion forces, board deflection, tolerance stacks, thermal growth, and fixture life; validate key predictions on hardware.
• Develop locating and compliance features that accommodate board and assembly variation, protect components and solder joints, and preserve contact repeatability across loading cycles and board revisions.
• Partner with electrical engineers on test-point access, probe selection, connector engagement, ESD provisions, cable routing, cooling, and interlocks; define motion and sequencing constraints with software and controls partners.
• Build, assemble, instrument, and debug fixtures in the lab. Establish acceptance checks for alignment, force, board strain where needed, contact repeatability, and cycle life; separate fixture problems from board failures.
• Design safe loading, pinch-point protection, hard stops, and operator access for manual or actuated fixtures. Make wear components easy to inspect, clean, and replace.
• Manage fabrication partners and component vendors. Release CAD, drawings, bills of materials, tolerance analyses, assembly instructions, inspection plans, and maintenance procedures.
• Own fixture deployment and acceptance at contract manufacturers, including assembly and alignment checks, correlation with lab fixtures, operator training, and troubleshooting. Support replication, board-revision changes, and maintenance through released documentation.

Skills

Mechanical intuition

Hands-on

Cross-functional communication

Ownership from concept to deployment

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Education

Mechanical Engineering or related field

Tools

NX

SolidWorks

Creo

Job description

OpenAI, Inc. is seeking a Mechanical Engineer for a senior individual-contributor role to lead PCBA test infrastructure for our robotics platform in San Francisco.

You will own fixture design from concept to fabrication and deployment, coordinating with electrical, firmware, software, manufacturing, and reliability teams. The role emphasizes hands-on lab work, collaboration with contract manufacturers, and deployment at scale with emphasis on repeatability, protection of delicate assemblies, and