Mechanical Design Engineer
- Salary
- $125K - $170K
- Level
- Junior
- Work type
- On-site · San Francisco
Not stated in the posting: visa.
Open. First seen 3 October 2026.
About the role
Gradient Robotics's standard text
About the Company
The datacenter buildout is the largest industrial project in human history. Gradient builds the autonomous robots that make it possible.
Partnered with the world's largest AI infrastructure companies and backed by the industry's best investors, we move fast and build full-stack systems that matter.
About the role
We're looking for a Mechanical Engineer to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics turns designs into working hardware. This is intentionally a hands-on ownership role. You'll own a subassembly and its parts from first sketch to validated hardware while partnering closely with the rest of the engineering team on whatever is highest leverage at any given moment.
This is a role for someone who loves the full build-test loop: you'll design a part, do the analysis to back it up, make it, test it on the robot, and turn a failed test into a revised part the same week. You'll touch every stage of your hardware, which means real ownership and room to grow quickly. The impact is significant: the subassemblies you own go straight onto the machines that scale AI infrastructure worldwide, and nothing you design gets handed off halfway.
Responsibilities
- Own a subassembly and its parts through design, hand calcs, FEA, fabrication, assembly, and validation
- Own the supporting analysis: hand calcs, tolerance stack-ups, fastener and material selection, and basic FEA
- Build, assemble, and test your own parts on test fixtures and on the robot
- Iterate fast: turn feedback from a failed test into a revised part the same week
Minimum Qualifications
- 1-4 years of mechanical design experience (exceptional new grads with strong project or internship work are welcome to apply)
- Solid fundamentals: statics, materials, tolerance analysis, fasteners, and basic FEA
- Experience building things: student teams, products that shipped, prototypes that worked
- Hands-on machining experience: we have some really cool machines, and as a small team, engineers do need to make their own parts at times
- Able to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days/week (6 days/week if needed during crunch time), embedded in the team
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience at a hardware, robotics, aerospace, or automotive company
- CAM experience (Fusion 360) or comfort programming your own toolpaths
- Comfort using AI tools to multiply your own output
What this role asks for
87% of this description is written for the role. The rest is Gradient Robotics's standard text, folded away below.
Read against Gradient Robotics's other open postings on this site.
The team: Engineering HIRES STEADILY
This role is one of 7 open in Engineering. 1 was posted in the last 30 days and the oldest in July: a team that hires all year rather than one being built.
WHAT THE TEAM WORKS WITH, ACROSS ITS POSTINGS
C++ (4 of 7), Embedded Systems (4 of 7), Rust (4 of 7), Linux (3 of 7), Python (3 of 7), Bazel (2 of 7), C (2 of 7)
OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM
- Hardware Technician posted Oct 6
- Controls Engineer posted Jul 22
- Systems Software Engineer posted Jul 22
- Senior Systems Software Engineer posted Jul 22
- Electrical Engineer posted Jul 22
- Senior Mechanical Engineer posted Jul 22
From the team and dates on Gradient Robotics's own job board.
Salary context
29 other open postings titled Mechanical Design Engineer state a salary: median USD 120,000 to USD 164,500 a year.
Similar jobs
- Mechanical Design Engineer at Applied Engineering
Same title - Mechanical Design Engineer at Skild AI
Same title - Mechanical Design Engineer at Harmattan AI
Same title - Mechanical Design Engineer at Sécheron Hasler Group
Same title - Mechanical Design Engineer at Barker Associates
Same title - Mechanical Design Engineer at Ridgway Machines Ltd
Same title
Is this your posting and you want it taken down? Email info@careerholo.com.