Staff R&D Mechanical Engineer, Robotics

Capstan Medical Inc.; Santa Cruz (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Capstan Medical in Santa Cruz is seeking an experienced Senior Mechanical Engineer to drive the end‑to‑end mechanical design of a novel robotic heart valve system. You will translate concept into producible hardware, leading cross‑functional teams across engineering, manufacturing, and clinical partners.

This role blends hardware and software integration, prototype bring‑up, and design for reliability in a regulatory medical device context.

Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of medical device design/engineering experience.
• Experience with design transfer, manufacturing, and shipping of capital equipment.
• Knowledge of sensors and actuators; design control and verification.
• Experience with design processes and regulatory compliance for medical devices.
• Ability to work onsite in Santa Cruz, CA, ~4 days/week hybrid.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical design efforts and set direction for cross‑functional deliverables.
• Build and bring up prototype robotic systems for pre-clinical lab use.
• Collaborate with manufacturing and clinical teams to incorporate feedback.
• Identify risks and drive cross‑functional resolution strategies.
• Document learnings on manufacturability and reliability; mentor peers.
• Communicate work through design reviews and release docs.

Skills

Mechanical design

Design for manufacturing

Regulatory awareness

Medical devices

Python

MATLAB

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Reports to: Managing Principle Mechanical Engineer, R&D

Workplace Type: Hybrid, on-site in Santa Cruz an average of 4-days per week

Capstan Medical: Creating a new standard for minimally invasive structural heart treatment

Who we are:

At Capstan Medical, we’re driven by an unwavering commitment to transforming the treatment of heart valve disease. By merging surgical robotics with catheter-based technology and next generation implants, we’ve pioneered a patient-optimized approach to repair and replace heart valves.

Our innovative technology offers a significantly less invasive alternative to traditional open-heart surgery while ensuring precise and reliable placement of the heart valve implant. With these advancements, we may be able to provide patients with a solution to their heart valve disease while significantly reducing recovery time and minimizing the risk of complications. With a dedicated team of heart valve device experts and robotics engineers, we are fully committed to developing a comprehensive and transformative solution that will positively impact the lives of individuals affected by this condition.

Capstan Medical is uniquely positioned in Santa Cruz. This gives us access to the amazing technical talent of the Bay Area, but in an environment that we feel is conducive to doing our best creative work. Our office is adjacent to large tracts of open space with bicycle trails straight from the office doors offering access to the hills and beaches of Wilder Ranch State Park for road/mountain bicycle riding, hiking, and surfing.

Come join us and become part of a team revolutionizing heart valve treatment!

The Opportunity:

We are building a novel medical robotic application, bringing together an exciting set of hardware and software into an elegant product. We are looking for someone who can take a mechanical system of the robot design from initial concept all the way to product.

What You’ll Do:

• Collaborate with Manufacturing and Clinical teams for feedback on designs, incorporating this feedback into quick and effective design iterations. Lead and set direction for mechanical design efforts, owning cross-functional mechanical deliverables and technical strategy
• Participate in building and bringing up prototype robotic systems and support all things mechanical in their pre-clinical lab use.
• Align individual work to best support company goals. Proactively identify cross-functional risks and lead resolution strategies in collaboration with key stakeholders
• Document and communicate learnings on design manufacturability and reliability to the broader hardware team, mentoring others in best practices and scalable design approaches
• Document and communicate your work through design reviews and as appropriate released documents as part of the product development process
• Identify gaps and pitch in as needed to ensure that the team meets their goals and objectives, driving alignment across teams when priorities conflict
• Provide mentorship to the team on best practices and design strategies, and be a valuable partner in design collaboration and reviews.

What You’ll Need:

• BS in Mechanical Engineering or related engineering discipline, or equivalent work experience
• Expecting 8+ years of relevant experience (medical device experience preferred)
• Comfort working with high levels of ambiguity and an ability to convert that into tangible outcomes
• Experience with designing, manufacturing transfer, and shipping of medical device capital equipment or equivalent complexity systems
• Understanding of sensor and actuator selection.
• Experience with medical device (or equivalent) development process, design control, design verification, and regulatory processes
• Ability to work in a hybrid work environment, working onsite in Santa Cruz on average 4 days a week

Ways To Stand Out:

• Experience with the full commercial lifecycle from concept through reacting to and addressing field issues with your designs.
• Skills with Python or Matlab for data analysis, simulation, and interacting with robotic equipment.
• Excessive nerdiness about manufacturing, mechanisms, robots, or any other adjacencies.

Why Join Us:

• We offer a fun, fast-paced, collaborative environment where you will be working on transformational technologies in the cardiac healthcare space.
• We offer outstanding benefits with medical, dental, and vision covered at 100% for you and your family, as well as flex time off.
• We thrive in our work-hard, play-hard environment. Bring your bike or running shoes if you’d like or just be ready to enjoy a fun office outing. We enjoy time inside the office and out!

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, and disability, or other legally protected status.