Senior Mechanical Engineer, Robotics Hardware

About Machina Labs:

Engineering moves at software speed. Manufacturing doesn't. Yet.

Machina Labs is changing that. We build intelligent, software-defined factories that produce complex metal structures directly from digital design. By integrating advanced metal forming, robotics, and automated production inside a flexible factory architecture, we enable customers to move from prototype to production in weeks, not years.

Backed by Lockheed Martin, Toyota, and NVIDIA, we're building the manufacturing infrastructure that defense, aerospace, and advanced mobility programs will run on.

If you want to work on hard problems that matter and see them fly, drive, and defend, this is the place.

Job Description:

Machina Labs is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer to own mechanical hardware design for our robotic sheet forming cells, taking designs from concept through release and into production.

You will own the design of machine subsystems, make and defend the design decisions that set how that hardware performs, lasts, and is serviced, and work closely with Robotics, Forming Process, Electrical, Controls, and Production to get it built and running reliably. As the machine and the company grow, the areas you own will grow and shift with them.

The ideal candidate has owned a complex mechanical subsystem on industrial machinery, robotics, CNC, or automation equipment, and is comfortable taking it from first concept to hardware running in production.

What you will own:

Mechanical hardware design:

• Own the design of machine hardware through release. Examples include robot end-of-arm tooling (forming end effectors, spindle assemblies, heated forming end effectors, scan and calibration tool mounts), machine frame and structural hardware, and other robot-mounted and cell subsystems.
• Define mechanical, fluid, and electrical interfaces to the robot and machine, and hold them under change control.
• Design integrated fluid and thermal systems: cooling, lubrication, material transport, vacuum, and actuation.
• Integrate sensing (load, pressure, temperature) with the electrical and controls teams.
• Set the manufacturability approach for the assemblies you own, and lead design and manufacturability reviews with Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and Production.

Analysis, verification, and documentation:

• Perform and document analyses for release (tolerance, structural, thermal, etc.).
• Write and execute design verification plans, and use test data to drive designs to performance, life, and serviceability targets.
• Produce and maintain release documentation: CAD, fabrication-ready drawings with GD&T, BOMs, revision history, and capability specs. Own engineering changes for your hardware.
• Lead design reviews for the hardware you own and review the designs of other engineers.
• Evaluate safety and technical risk across the assemblies you own (interfaces, loads, failure modes, installation, and use) and design mitigations into the hardware and its validation.

Production and suppliers:

• Act as the engineering point of contact for fabrication suppliers of your hardware: release packages, answer technical questions, approve deviations, and drive quality issues to root cause.
• Lead investigation of production and field failures, deliver root cause, and implement durable fixes.
• Improve the reliability, serviceability, and cost of the hardware you own as production scales.

*This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required for this role. Duties and responsibilities may change based on business needs.

Required Background & Experience:

• B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or related field.
• 4+ years of mechanical design for robotics, industrial machinery, or automation equipment, with ownership of a complex assembly or subsystem from concept through release and into deployment/production.
• Design of mechatronic hardware such as actuated mechanisms, dynamic kinematic assemblies, or robotic end-of-arm tooling.
• Structural, tolerance or thermal analysis (hand calculations or FEA) applied to design decisions and documented for release.
• Strong fundamentals in material selection and failure modes (fatigue, wear, thermal effects, etc.).
• Strong CAD skills and fabrication-ready drawings with GD&T for machined, welded, and sheet metal parts.
• Design verification: writing test plans, running tests, and iterating designs from the data.
• Experience in one or more of: fluid systems (cooling, lubrication, vacuum, pneumatic, hydraulic), sensor integration (load, pressure, temperature), or heated hardware.
• Strong documentation and change control discipline (SolidWorks PDM or similar ECM).
• Must be a U.S. person as defined under ITAR, due to access to export-controlled information.
• Able to work onsite in Chatsworth, CA, with occasional travel to suppliers, customers, or additional Machina factory sites.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Spindles, bearings, or other rotating hardware under high or cyclic load.
• Heated tooling or thermal management at elevated temperature.
• FEA proficiency (ANSYS, SolidWorks Simulation, or similar) for structural and thermal analysis.
• Robot tool interfaces and tool changers (KUKA, Fanuc, or similar).
• Working with machine shops and fabrication suppliers as the engineering owner.
• Weld design and fabrication processes.
• Preparing CAD models for simulation or offline programming.
• Formal engineering review and release gates.
• Cable, hose, or harness routing on dynamic kinematic systems.