Hiring: Mechanical Engineer
At Cargo, we just closed several $Ms in funding from some of the best robotics investors in the Valley and we’re ready to hire a Mechanical Engineer. See details below on how to apply.
About You
Are you a rockstar mechanical engineer? We’re serial founder alumni of Stanford / StartX / South Park Commons, and are well funded with awesome robotics founders and investors behind us. We’re looking for an awesome hardware engineer with the ambition and versatility to join with the first 5 employees at a robotics startup disrupting a massive legacy industry.
Candidates will need to be able to work locally with us in the SF Bay to enable tight collaboration and fast iteration.
About Us
Cargo is building the robotic delivery platform of tomorrow. You can think of us as an automated warehouse on wheels.
After taking jobs at UPS and FedEx, we realized that the last mile was broken and parcel delivery needed a new approach. Although delivery volumes have grown 5x in the past decade, delivery vans are stuck in 1950 and today’s process is highly inefficient and injury prone. Our first product is the X1 Robotic Cargo Bay which reimagines the guts of every delivery van you see on the road, and saves hours of labor per day for each vehicle. Our vision is to fully automate the delivery chain with radically more efficient networks that reduce carbon emissions and congestion while enabling people and our planet to thrive.
We’re looking for an unstoppable and versatile ME to create many unique systems and help us launch our pilots for X1. You’ll then rapidly iterate alongside our CTO and test with our customers to develop a complete V1 product.
We’re a user and product-centric company, so expect to deliver some actual parcels in your first week at work! Get ready, there’s lots to build :)
What you’ll do:
Bring delivery automation to life by developing key parts of our systems from foggy inklings to scaled manufacturing:
Develop firsthand knowledge of logistics challenges by doing actual deliveries and supporting customer tests of X1 and subsequent products.
Brainstorm new designs, mechanisms, and features to solve our customers’ problems, and collaborate tightly with our CTO and software team to identify cross functional dependencies and build the best possible product
Use whiteboards, CAD, rapid prototyping, electronics, code, and elbow grease to design, test, and rapidly iterate
Codify promising designs by developing functional requirements and specifications, test plans, detailed design and engineering analysis, DFM & DFA, BOMs, engineering drawings, assembly instructions, and maintenance guides
Lead pilot builds of your designs and support our transition into production
Help to source and manage new team members and contractors as we grow
Personal characteristics: you are
A machete engineer: you cut through all kinds of difficult problems to get to your goal
Biased toward action: when you see problem, you fix
Driven and gritty: you can take punches and keep on going
Calm in chaos: you can hold the tiller and sail through the hurricane
A quick study: you learn fast and teach those around you
A team and solo athlete: you perform well on your own and play well with others
Self-aware and low ego: you can take and give feedback with grace
You need to bring this:
BS or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or equivalent experience
Mastery of engineering fundamentals & first principles
2 or more years of hands-on experience developing complex mechanical products from whiteboard to production, ideally including manipulators such as robot arms or cartesian gantries, and motor control for servos (PID) and steppers
Strong mechanical intuition and build skills crafting proof-of-concept prototypes in the shop: hand tools, 3D printing, laser cutting, milling, etc.
High proficiency in CAD (SolidWorks, Creo, or similar) including complex assemblies & configuration management, FEA, and properly-dimensioned drawings (GD&T desirable).
A working knowledge of failure avoidance methods such as FMEA, experience in tolerance, kinematic, and vibration analysis, DFM/DFA, and BOMs
Good engineering judgment to meet deadlines and product performance goals: you can both hack and deploy fast, and structure robust systems that hold up to abuse and scale
Excellent communication, collaboration, and leadership skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate your teammates to achieve ambitious goals.
You thrive in startup environments, and can multi-task and manage conflicting deadlines
We’d love if you also have this:
Built and deployed robot hardware to production
Experience with robot EOAT & manipulators such as vacuum pickup or soft robotics
Experience with lab test instruments such as multimeters, oscilloscopes, DC loads, power supplies, spectrum analyzers, etc.
Strong understanding of electronics and programming fundamentals, and experience building embedded projects in C++ and Python using Arduino / ESP32 / STM32 / Raspberry Pi
Familiarity with software stack technologies (Docker, k8s, Linux, Git, etc.)
Benefits and Workplace
Salary: $100-130K
Equity: 0.05 — 0.15%
Benefits: Healthcare plan, 401k, PTO, parental leave, and much more!
On-site: 5 days a week (Menlo Park)
Does this sound like you?
If you’re still reading and this sounds like a job you’d kick a** in, email us a resume and one paragraph telling us the most exceptional thing you’ve built.
Also don’t worry if you’re missing a skill or two - the right attitude and experience are more important to us than an exact skills match.
We’ll try to get back to you as promptly as we can.
<daniel@withcargo.com>
<peter@withcargo.com>
