Mechatronics Engineer (Lead)

About the role

The Cognizant Engineer (CogE) will lead the development of a VLA-powered gripping and assembly system from concept to deployment. They will also support other flagship products as a Responsible Engineer.

Responsibilities

• Own the VLA gripping and assembly system cradle to grave: concept, design, build, bring-up, deployment, and field reliability.
• Design the gripper and mechatronics: end-effector design, actuation, GD&T drawings, mass, cost and manufacturability tradeoffs, rapid prototyping (3D print, laser, CNC, PCB), and production-ready designs.
• Integrate perception and sensing into the manipulation loop: cameras and vision, force, torque and tactile feedback, and the 6DOF arm.
• Operationalize VLA and learned manipulation policies: stand up the data pipeline (teleop and demonstration collection), wire policy inference into real-time control, evaluate grasp and assembly success, and close the sim-to-real and on-robot iteration loop.
• Optimize with modeling and test: analytical and physical simulation, then validate on hardware.
• Interface with suppliers to build supply chain and vendor qualification for manufacturing feasibility, validation, and assigned commodities; deliver world-class fit, finish, and craftsmanship for launch.
• Support deployment: help assemble and install systems at customer sites as needed.

Requirements

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or Robotics (M.S. a plus).
• Real experience taking a robotic system from concept to delivery on an R&D team.
• Manipulation and gripping experience: end-effector or gripper design, grasping, pick-and-place, or assembly automation.
• 6DOF and cobot arm integration, including low-level programming and motion control.
• Comfortable at the hardware and ML boundary: you do not have to train VLA models from scratch, but you can integrate learned policies, run inference on a robot, collect and curate demonstration data, and debug why a policy fails on real hardware.
• Familiarity with modern manipulation stacks (ROS or ROS 2, OpenVLA or pi-0 style policies, RT-style models, imitation learning, sim-to-real) is a strong plus.
• Strong Python; working knowledge of real-time or embedded control.
• Fluent with prototyping tools: CAD, 3D printing, laser cutter, CNC, PCB.
• Takes initiative across whatever the company needs to win.
• Able to work extended hours and weekends as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree required.
• Strong understanding of AI tools. We're looking for an "AI native" engineer.
• Technical depth in robotics, automation, or a related field; has shipped from concept to delivery.
• Demonstrated work on 6DOF or similar cobot arms.
• Working knowledge of Python or a similar language.
• Minimum 10 years of full-time on the job experience.
• Bonus: hands-on with manipulation or grasping, or with learned policies (VLA, imitation learning, ROS).

Skills

• Comfortable at the hardware and ML boundary: you do not have to train VLA models from scratch, but you can integrate learned policies, run inference on a robot, collect and curate demonstration data, and debug why a policy fails on real hardware.
• Familiarity with modern manipulation stacks (ROS or ROS 2, OpenVLA or pi-0 style policies, RT-style models, imitation learning, sim-to-real) is a strong plus.
• Strong Python; working knowledge of real-time or embedded control.
• Fluent with prototyping tools: CAD, 3D printing, laser cutter, CNC, PCB.

Pay

$170,000 - $190,000 per year + 0.2% equity + full benefits + fun company perks.

Schedule

8-hour shift, Monday to Friday, weekends as needed.

Location

In person, Van Nuys or Los Angeles, CA. Reliable commute or willing to relocate (employer-provided relocation package available).