Senior Robotics Mechanical Engineer

We are seeking an experienced Robotics Mechanical Engineer to lead the design, development, and fabrication of specialized cleaning tools and actuator systems for our autonomous cleaning robots. This role involves creating innovative end-effector designs, integrating multiple cleaning modalities, and ensuring robust performance in challenging commercial environments.

You will work closely with the arm motion / cleaning logic team, the perception team, the contract manufacturing partner, and the systems integration partners. The role spans concept design through to design freeze and volume manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support the mechanical and electrical design of components and assemblies for integrated cleaning payload assemblies including the robot arm side and tool side
• Specify and integrate the tool changer mechanism, RFID/contact-based tool identification, and the electrical and fluid pass-through across the tool change interface
• Design brush retention, replacement, and disinfection mechanisms
• Design the on-board fluid system: clean water tank, detergent tank, and dirty water tank, including pumps, valves, hoses, fittings, level sensing, and quick-fill / quick-drain interfaces
• Design maintenance-friendly components for field serviceability
• Partner with the arm motion / cleaning logic team to ensure end effector kinematics, reach, and tool change choreography are designed in
• Coordinate with the perception team on camera mounting, lighting, and field-of-view at the end effector
• Engineer sealing to meet IP65/IP67 requirements at the end effector, tool changer interface, fluid line connections, tank interfaces, and any manipulation mechanism actuators
• Define brush selection criteria and run head-to-head efficacy testing against the project's cleaning quality benchmark, ensuring coverage of the geometry-critical zones
• Engineer the brush-to-toolchanger interface for fast, repeatable docking and undocking through the disinfection cycle and during field service
• Run brush life-cycle and chemical-compatibility testing; define replacement intervals, consumables BOM, and a supply strategy that scale
• Lead FMEA across end effector, brushes, fluidics, and manipulation mechanisms; define service intervals and design for field-replaceable wear items
• Design the mechanism by which the robot manipulates the cleaning fixtures such as doors during the cleaning cycle with safe behaviours
• Design for graceful failure in human-shared environments - manipulation motions must not pinch, trap, or surprise persons, and the mechanism must fail to a safe state on power loss or detected obstruction
• Drive Design-for-Manufacturing with the contract manufacturing partner
• Conduct field testing to validate cleaning performance

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or related field
• 5+ years of professional mechanical design experience, including at least 2 years on robotic, automation, or precision motion systems that shipped to a customer or production environment
• Demonstrated experience designing end effectors, robotic tooling, grippers, or quick-change tooling - please be ready to discuss a specific shipped or piloted design
• Strong CAD proficiency in SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or Siemens NX, including assembly management and PDM workflows
• Hands-on fluidics experience: pumps, valves, flow control, sealing, leak testing, IP ratings
• DfM experience working directly with contract manufacturers - tolerance analysis, BOM ownership, supplier-side problem solving
• Comfort with Python or shell scripting for test rigs and data capture - you will not be expected to write production software, but a basic scripting fluency speeds up validation

Preferred Attributes

• Experience with collaborative robot arms (UR, AUBO, Elite, Kinova, xArm, Franka)
• Service robotics, cleaning robotics, or food-processing equipment background
• Experience designing or qualifying custom consumables - brushes, wipes, pads, or wear items - co-developed with specialist suppliers
• Familiarity with EN ISO 13482 (personal care robots) or similar service robot safety standards, and a working understanding of EMC and electrical safety requirements for commercial deployment
• Familiarity with ROS / ROS2 hardware integration, end effector electrical interfaces (EtherCAT, Modbus, digital I/O), and sensor mounting

How to Apply

Please upload your CV and include a brief note in the Cover Letter field describing a mechanical design problem you owned end-to-end, including the challenges involved, key decisions made, and the final outcome. If available, please also include a portfolio of relevant mechanism, end-effector, or tooling projects.

Selected candidates will be invited to complete a design exercise and attend an on-site interview at our office.