{"id":4029564,"url":"https://alion.io/job/whisker-rd-mechanical-engineer","title":"R&D Mechanical Engineer","company":{"id":1982605,"name":"Whisker","domain":"whisker.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/whisker-com","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Paylocity","truth_index":null},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Auburn Hills, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Cameo Systems Modeler","optional":false},{"name":"GD&T","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T16:59:51Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-11-10","last_verified_at":"2026-11-11T16:50:02Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"Description\nWhisker is redefining what it means to live with cats-designing intelligent systems that remove friction, elevate the everyday, and celebrate the quiet brilliance of feline companionship. Today, Litter-Robot leads the category. Tomorrow, an entire ecosystem that expands what’s possible for cats and the people who love them. We believe the future is feline. And we’re imagining that future today.\nWe work onsite 4+ days a week, with our team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and Juneau, Wisconsin. Our team of 700+ passionate pet people thrives on collaboration, innovation, and the occasional office cameo from a four-legged friend.\nWhat You’ll Do:\nWe are seeking a talented and innovative Mechanical Engineer to join our dynamic Research and Advanced Development team at Whisker, a leader in connected pet care products and services. In this role, you will play a key part in shaping the future of connected pet care by developing cutting-edge mechanical and mechatronic devices that are well ahead of market trends. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, including firmware and electrical engineers, product managers, and designers, to explore new and novel pet care devices. Your expertise in mechatronics and creative mechanical design will help bring advanced concepts to life, enabling us to create next-generation products that deliver exceptional user experiences and improve the well-being of pets.\nEssential Duties and Responsibilities:\nThis list of duties and responsibilities is not all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as deemed necessary.\nResearches, develops, rapidly prototypes, and optimizes systems and mechanisms for connected pet care products, including actuators, motors, gear systems, and drive mechanisms that support automated product features\nCollaborates with cross-functional teams to ensure designs integrate smoothly with other subsystems, including sensors, electronics, and wireless communication technologies\nConducts feasibility studies and simulations to determine the optimal designs for specific product applications\nDesigns, programs, and fabricates automated test fixtures\nDefines and performs robust testing to ensure concepts meet performance requirements\nSelects appropriate materials to balance strength, weight, and cost while ensuring longevity and durability\nDesigns and tests prototypes, iterating daily based on testing feedback to meet performance, reliability, and manufacturability requirements\nDevelops detailed CAD models and technical drawings of motorized systems, including mechanical linkages, enclosures, and housings for integration with other product components\nWorks closely with production design and sourcing teams to ensure that designs have a line of sight to scalable and cost-effective high-volume production\nStays up to date on the latest advancements in motor technology, sensing, automation, and motion control systems to incorporate innovative solutions into new products\nContributes to product documentation, including design specifications, design process, test procedures, and troubleshooting guides to support product development and production teams\nWill perform additional duties as required\nRequirements\n What You’ll Bring:\nBachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field\n5-10+ years of experience in mechanical design and development, ideally in consumer electronics, IoT devices, or similar product areas\nExperience with a broad range of mechanisms employed to solve engineering problems\nProficiency in CAD software and 3D modeling, including surfacing and top-down master modeling techniques\nExtensive experience with mechanical prototyping and rapid prototyping methods (e.g., 3D printing, CNC machining), and testing\nExperience creating motorized systems from the ground up\nKnowledge of materials science and experience selecting materials for performance, durability, and manufacturability\nKnowledge of Injection molded plastics, sheet metal and other common manufacturing processes\nUnderstanding of design for assembly (DFA), design for manufacturability (DFM), and design for testing (DFT) principles\nAbility to analyze and optimize mechanical systems for factors such as performance, weight, cost, thermal management, and environmental durability\nExperience with integrating mechanical systems with electrical, motor, and sensor technologies\nStrong problem-solving skills, with a focus on innovative solutions that balance form, function, and cost\nAbility to maintain a professional atmosphere in a fast-paced environment with numerous interactions and interruptions\nA high degree of initiative, self-motivation, and ability to motivate others\nAbility to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with Team Members and colleagues\nMaintains confidentiality of proprietary information\nComfortable with office pets (cats, dogs)\nNot Required but Nice to Have:\nVEX, BEST, PLTW, OCCRA, Combat Robotics, Robofest, FIRST or other design/build challenge experience, Including home projects.\nExperience with Arduino, Raspberry Pi and similar platforms\nWorking knowledge of GD&T and component sourcing\nExperience in designing products for consumer health or pet care markets\nBasic understanding of electrical and firmware design\nExperience with Creo\nBenefits & Purrks:\nJoin a tenacious, inventive company that empowers team members to chart their own path, lead by grounding decisions in the “why”, and has a strong sense of empathy and openness to new perspectives. Be a part of exciting growth, work with incredible people, and create tomorrow’s pet products-plus a whole lot of extras. You will also be provided with:\nPremium Medical/Dental/Vision insurance\nPaid parental leave\nWhisker Parents Program\n1 day \"pawternity\" leave for new pet adoption\nPet Insurance Discount\n401K match\nFlexible spending accounts\nCompany-paid short-term disability and life insurance\nEmployee Assistance Program (EAP)\nGenerous paid time off\n14 Paid Holidays\nTop of the line equipment\nPet-friendly office\nWhisker products and swag\nContinuing education Support\nOn-site gym with Peloton\nReferral program\nStatement of Inclusivity:\nWe believe different perspectives make Whisker better and strive to create a place where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive.\nPlease ensure to regularly check your email spam folder for any communication from Whisker to avoid missing important updates regarding your application status.\nWhisker will not ask you to interview with an AI chat bot. We ask that all interviewees refrain from using any AI tools during interviews with Whisker team members.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6640,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan","Life insurance","Parental leave","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Pet Food, Supplies & Care","Home Appliances"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-11-10T18:10:12Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":0,"expected_fill_days":51,"reasons":["conf:0","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-11-11T05:49:22Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/whisker-rd-mechanical-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/whisker-rd-mechanical-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-11T20:33:22Z","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":40109,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-12T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"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":1982605},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1982605"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fwhisker-rd-mechanical-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"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%2Fwhisker-rd-mechanical-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"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%2Fwhisker-rd-mechanical-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/whisker-rd-mechanical-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fwhisker-rd-mechanical-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":4029564}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"whisker.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":4029564},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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