Senior Mechanical Engineer - Robotic Platforms

The role

You will lead mechanical integration programs to mate robotic arms and payloads to heavy mobile base platforms. You will design heavy-duty mechanical systems and architect reconfigurable platforms for construction environments.

What you will do

• Lead mechanical integration programs for robotic arms and payloads on skid-steer and tracked vehicle platforms
• Design and specify heavy-duty mechanical systems like mounts, brackets, enclosures, actuators, and end-effectors
• Architect platforms for reconfigurability across construction tasks
• Own environmental strategy including IP67-rated enclosures, thermal management, and ingress protection
• Design, route, and validate wire harnesses and cable assemblies
• Integrate sensor and lighting packages
• Drive DFM, DFA, and DFS from the first CAD review
• Run structural analysis and own the validation plan for vibration, shock, thermal, ingress, and EMI
• Work with machine shops, sheet metal vendors, and harness houses
• Go to the field to diagnose failures and instrument systems

Required qualifications

• 7+ years of mechanical engineering experience
• Experience at a robotics, autonomous systems, or heavy equipment company that scaled real hardware into the field
• Direct experience integrating robotic arms, actuators, or heavy payloads onto mobile platforms
• Proven track record designing to IP67 or stricter and shipping systems for outdoor deployments
• Strong hands-on cabling and harness design experience
• Expert CAD proficiency (OnShape/SolidWorks)
• Comfort with GD&T, tolerance stacks, and production-quality drawings
• Structural analysis chops on heavy systems
• Comfort moving fast in a scale-up
• Willingness to travel to field sites (~15–25%)

Nice to have

• Experience specifically with construction equipment, agricultural equipment, mining robotics, or defense ground vehicles
• Experience designing platforms intended to support multiple end-effectors, payloads, or task configurations
• Background integrating perception stacks
• Familiarity with hydraulics, pneumatics, or high-current DC power distribution on mobile platforms
• Experience owning supplier relationships for castings, weldments, or large machined parts
• Prior work on systems operating in desert Southwest or northern-climate conditions specifically

About the company

Gritt is an intelligent system that combines robotics and AI to build infrastructure. The founding team includes experts from Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and MIT.