Sr. Mechatronics Engineer - Actuation & Drivetrain

present of AI; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

9 Mothers seeks a Sr. Mechatronics Engineer to own actuation and drivetrain across motors, gearboxes, solenoids and drives in a counter-drone turret. You will guide sizing, supplier selection, bench testing and production release with data-driven decisions.

You should bring a decade of hands-on motion-system work and the ability to justify choices with measured data, while coordinating vendor qualification and clear documentation for teams.

Qualifications

• A decade of hands-on motion system experience.
• Ability to design the mechanical path from rotor to load.
• Proven ability to justify choices with measured data, not just datasheets.
• Experience with vendor qualification and second sourcing.

Responsibilities

• Owns motor, gearbox, solenoid and drive from sizing through supplier selection and production release.
• Bench testing and loop tuning to ensure performance.
• Documenting processes so production and field teams can follow.
• Triaging faults and providing clear, data-driven conclusions.

Skills

Servo loop tuning

Gearbox design

Drivetrain design

Motor sourcing

Dynamometer testing

Job description

Sr. Mechatronics Engineer - Actuation & Drivetrain

The role is a single owner for every motor, gearbox, solenoid and drive in a counter drone turret, from sizing math through supplier choice, bench testing, loop tuning and production release. A strong candidate has a decade of hands on motion system work, can design the mechanical path from rotor to load, and can prove choices with measured data rather than datasheets. The job also asks for vendor qualification, second sourcing and clear documentation that production and field teams can follow.

How it fits the AI era

The product pairs AI driven targeting with physical pointing, so the actuation must track fast and stay stable while software decides where to aim. AI speeds up modeling, test analysis and tuning suggestions, but the real limits are heat, backlash, resonance and shock, which only bench and field work reveal. The human judgment is in the stiffness and margin calls and in diagnosing whether a fault is mechanical, electrical or control.

How it builds AI experience

Work here builds AI experience through the hardware software boundary: tuning servo loops that follow commands from an autonomous system and triaging faults across that line. Candidates can prepare by automating test rigs with Python or MATLAB, extracting motor parameters from data, and learning to read motor control firmware. Familiarity with robot software stacks and drive networks helps, since the turret must work as part of a larger autonomous machine.

Worth showing

• Servo loop tuning
• Gearbox and drivetrain design
• Dynamometer test rigs
• Motor and gearbox sourcing

This is our own read, written from the employer's posting and the company's Spotlight. The employer's posting is the source of truth for the role.

About 9 Mothers

9 Mothers manufactures artificial intelligence point defense systems and kinetic counter-drone turrets to neutralize uncrewed aerial threats in contested defense environments.