{"id":2026916,"url":"https://alion.io/job/p-prototype-engineer","title":"Prototype Engineer","company":{"id":3908685,"name":"Pi","domain":"xn--1xa.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/p-6","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Welcome to the Jungle","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":3,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-12T06:55:09Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"junior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":75000,"max_usd":135000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":3358},"experience_years_min":2,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Fusion 360","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"SLI/SLO/SLA","optional":false},{"name":"SolidWorks","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-13T00:13:34Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-07","last_verified_at":"2026-10-12T07:04:37Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":60,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":60},"description":"Join our team as a Prototype Engineer, where you'll be at the forefront of research and real-world applications. You'll work closely with our research and engineering teams to design, build, and iterate on mechanical, electrical, and sensor prototypes. This role is a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between R&D and hardware engineering, translating research ideas into physical systems and ensuring reliable hardware performance in real-world environments.\nMissions\nRapidly design and fabricate mechanical, electrical, and sensor prototypes to support research experiments and engineering development.\nBuild end-to-end prototype systems: from concept sketches through CAD, fabrication, wiring, sensor integration, and validation.\nCollaborate with electrical and robot software engineers to integrate hardware with control systems, firmware, and runtime software.\nProfil recherché\n - Ability to build full first-pass systems end-to-end, from mechanical structure through electrical integration to basic software scripting- Hands-on expertise with rapid prototyping methods: 3D printing (FDM/SLA), laser cutting, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, and manual machining\n- Strong communication skills, with the ability to speak the language of both researchers and engineers. Translating abstract research needs or engineering requests into tangible concepts\n- Familiarity with the robotics domain, with an understanding of kinematics, actuation, compliant mechanisms, and the challenges of hardware interacting with unstructured real-world environments\n- Comfort working in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment where requirements evolve quickly and scrappiness is valued\n- Proficiency in CAD software (Onshape, SolidWorks, or Fusion 360) with strong 3D modeling and drafting skills\n- Experience with basic scripting (Python) for test automation, data collection, or hardware interfacing is a plus\n- Working knowledge of PCB design, electronics and comfortable soldering, wiring, reading schematics, and integrating sensors (force/torque, IMUs, cameras, encoders, etc.)\n- 2-5 years of experience in prototyping, R&D engineering, or hardware development, ideally preferably in robotics, automotive, consumer electronics, or research lab environments\n- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Mechatronics Engineering, or a related field","description_format":"text","description_chars":2348,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":2,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-07T13:30:05Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":11,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.385,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":60,"expected_fill_days":16,"reasons":["conf:4","velocity","win:tail","crowd:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-10-12T06:55:09Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/p-prototype-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/p-prototype-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-12T10:19:38Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":15790,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-13T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3908685},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3908685"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fp-prototype-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fp-prototype-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fp-prototype-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/p-prototype-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fp-prototype-engineer"}]}