Senior Mechanical Engineer - Robotics Hardware
Instawork is on a mission to create meaningful economic opportunities for skilled hourly professionals in communities around the globe. Our AI-powered labor marketplace helps local businesses scale, and enables global technology companies to push the frontiers of robotics and AI. Backed by world-class investors like Benchmark, Spark Capital, Craft Ventures, Greylock, Y Combinator, and others, we’re looking for exceptional talent to reimagine the way the world works.
Senior Mechanical Engineer - Robotics Hardware
Location - Bangalore
Instawork Robotics Labs is building Instacore, our proprietary five-camera and IMU wearable capture rig. Hundreds of units operate across India every day, collecting real-world data used to train frontier Physical AI models.
We are looking for a senior, mechanically focused engineer to own the complete hardware lifecycle for Instacore and future hardware products. This person will independently lead design, prototyping, manufacturing, testing, deployment, logistics, maintenance, and continuous improvement.
What you’ll do
- Own the mechanical design and development of Instacore and other robotics hardware from initial requirements through production and field deployment.
- Create detailed CAD models, assemblies, engineering drawings, bills of materials, and manufacturing documentation.
- Rapidly prototype and validate designs using 3D printing, machining, fabrication, and off-the-shelf components.
- Design durable mounts, enclosures, fixtures, wearable components, packaging, and protective systems.
- Own design for manufacturability, assembly, serviceability, reliability, and cost.
- Improve cable routing, connector retention, strain relief, thermal management, ingress protection, and resistance to vibration and impact.
- Design packaging and logistics processes that prevent damage during storage and transit.
- Establish verification, stress-testing, quality-control, and acceptance-testing procedures.
- Investigate field failures, determine root causes, and implement corrective improvements across the fleet.
- Own the maintenance and repair strategy for deployed hardware, including spare parts, repair documentation, and technician procedures.
- Manage vendors, fabricators, component suppliers, and contract manufacturers.
- Own component sourcing, inventory planning, hardware logistics, and deployment readiness.
- Work closely with robotics, electrical, firmware, software, operations, and field teams to deliver complete systems.
- Build repeatable processes that allow the hardware fleet to scale reliably across India and APAC.
- Mentor technicians and junior engineers while remaining deeply hands-on.
What we’re looking for
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Product Design, Robotics, or a related discipline.
- **Five to seven years of hands-on experience** designing and delivering physical products or robotics hardware.
- Advanced proficiency with CAD, including complex parts, assemblies, drawings, tolerance definition, and revision management.
- Strong experience with rapid prototyping and 3D printing, including material selection, print orientation, tolerances, and design limitations.
- Experience taking products from early prototypes through low-volume or scaled production.
- Strong understanding of materials, manufacturing processes, fasteners, tolerances, load paths, fatigue, vibration, and impact resistance.
- Demonstrated ability to diagnose mechanical failures and implement robust, practical solutions.
- Experience working with vendors and managing manufacturing, sourcing, inventory, packaging, or logistics.
- Ability to independently prioritize work, make engineering decisions, and own outcomes with limited oversight.
- Willingness to travel across India and APAC for vendor visits, deployments, and field investigations.
Good to have
- Electrical engineering knowledge, particularly wiring, connectors, sensors, cameras, power systems, printed circuit board integration, and basic electronics troubleshooting.
- Experience designing electromechanical or wearable products.
- Programming proficiency in Python, C++, or another relevant language.
- Experience writing scripts for test automation, hardware validation, data analysis, or manufacturing workflows.
- Familiarity with Raspberry Pi, embedded systems, computer vision hardware, or IoT devices.
- Experience managing engineering documentation and product data using version-control or product-lifecycle-management systems.
- Experience building or leading a small hardware engineering function.
What success looks like
- Instacore has a clear, reliable, and scalable hardware architecture.
- New designs move efficiently from requirements through prototype, validation, and deployment.
- Field failures, wire breakages, and transit damage decline measurably.
- Manufacturing, repair, inventory, and logistics processes are documented and repeatable.
- Junior engineers and technicians can assemble, test, and repair units using the systems you establish.
- Hardware development no longer depends on day-to-day involvement from the broader team.
Our Values
Empathy, Trust & Candor
We put ourselves in the shoes of our colleagues and customers and don’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations, instead building trust through honest and direct feedback.
Bias for Action
We practice high-velocity decision-making, clear-eyed that we often operate with incomplete information. Growing quickly means it’s OK to be wrong, so long as we learn from our mistakes and course correct!
Always Be Learning
We’re a curious bunch, and with AI transforming our workplace we encourage everyone to learn from each other, compounding our knowledge and experience to help us change an entire industry.
Act Like an Owner
We work long, hard, and smart, building products that delight our users and drive growth. Your ability to impact Instawork is limited only by your courage and conviction, not your job description.
About Instawork
Founded in 2015, Instawork is the nation’s leading online labor marketplace for food services, hospitality, light industry, and logistics, connecting more than 7M skilled workers with local restaurants, hotels, warehouses, stadiums, and more. Our AI-powered platform serves thousands of businesses across more than 50 major markets in the United States and Canada. We're not just helping fill shifts, we're supporting local economies-and we're just getting started!
Instawork has been featured by CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press. Forbes included us on their Next Billion Dollar Startups list; RetailTech Breakthrough named us Workforce Hiring Solution of the Year for 2025; and Inc. 5000 recognized us as one of the country's top 10% fastest-growing companies two years in a row. But what matters most is our impact. We're solving real problems for real people, and we’re doing it at scale.
Join our team to help us build something that matters! We’re looking for superstars who want to help us shape the future of work. With hubs in San Francisco, Bangalore, and Chicago, city offices in New York, Phoenix, and Singapore, we're back to working together in-person five days a week because we believe the best ideas happen when great people collaborate face-to-face. We also value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds.
Ready to make an impact? Learn more at www.instawork.com/about.