Manufacturing Electrical Engineer, Joints & Body

1X • Hayward, CA

2d • $126,000 - $181,000 • Onsite

About The Position

1X is building humanoid robots designed to work in homes, handling chores and tasks to give people their time back. This requires solving complex challenges in robotics, AI, and manufacturing simultaneously, at scale, and in a safe form factor for family living. The company has been developing these robots since 2014 and is now focused on shipping its flagship product, NEO. NEO is a home robot designed for real-world operation alongside people. The company is scaling and hiring intentionally, seeking individuals inspired by the mission to change how humans spend their time by creating abundance safely. The Joints & Body team specifically focuses on the mechanical systems that provide the robot with structure, mobility, strength, and robustness. They design and develop the robot's body architecture, joints, structural components, and integrated electromechanical systems, owning hardware from concept through validation and production. This team operates at the intersection of mechanical design, actuation, structures, materials, sensing, electronics, controls, manufacturing, and reliability, addressing the mechanical challenges of building a capable humanoid robot at scale.

Requirements

• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals across machine design, structures, mechanisms, materials, and electromechanical systems
• Deep understanding of mechanical joint design, including bearings, transmissions, actuators, shafts, fasteners, interfaces, and structural load paths
• Strong ability to design highly integrated mechanical systems under tight mass, volume, stiffness, strength, and range-of-motion constraints
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to use first-principles calculations, tolerance analysis, FEA, and physical testing to make engineering decisions
• Hands-on engineering mindset with the ability to move quickly between CAD, analysis, prototype builds, test rigs, and complete robots
• Strong understanding of DFM/DFA and the ability to develop designs that transition effectively from prototype to scaled production
• Strong collaboration and communication skills across mechanical, electrical, controls, manufacturing, reliability, and supply chain teams
• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a related field
• 5+ years of mechanical engineering experience developing complex mechanical or electromechanical products
• Strong experience designing mechanisms, structural components, precision assemblies, or robotic systems
• Advanced proficiency with 3D CAD and experience owning complex mechanical assemblies from concept through released drawings
• Strong understanding of mechanical design fundamentals including statics, dynamics, materials, fatigue, friction, fasteners, bearings, and tolerance analysis
• Experience with GD&T, tolerance stack analysis, drawing release, and production documentation
• Experience designing components for machining, casting, molding, sheet metal, additive manufacturing, or other production processes
• Experience building and testing prototypes and using test results to drive design decisions
• Experience integrating mechanical systems with motors, sensors, electronics, wiring, and other electromechanical components
• Experience collaborating with manufacturing, quality, supply chain, electrical, controls, and systems engineering organizations

Nice To Haves

• Experience designing robotic actuators, joints, transmissions, or humanoid robotic systems
• Experience with electric motors, gearboxes, belt or cable transmissions, bearings, encoders, torque sensing, brakes, or other motion-control hardware
• Experience designing lightweight structures with aggressive strength, stiffness, packaging, and mass constraints
• Experience with FEA, fatigue analysis, structural optimization, thermal analysis, or other engineering simulation methods
• Experience developing hardware exposed to repeated dynamic loading, impacts, shock, vibration, or high duty cycles
• Experience designing mechanisms with high range of motion and complex packaging constraints
• Experience with materials and processes such as aluminum, steel, polymers, composites, castings, forgings, injection molding, and precision machining
• Experience developing mechanical test fixtures, life-cycle tests, characterization rigs, or reliability validation systems
• Experience operating in fast-paced hardware environments with rapid design iteration and frequent prototype builds
• Experience supporting products through NPI, design validation, reliability testing, and production ramp-up

Responsibilities

• Design and release production-ready body, joint, and structural systems that meet performance, reliability, weight, cost, and manufacturability requirements
• Develop compact electromechanical joint architectures that integrate actuation, bearings, transmissions, sensing, electronics, cabling, and structural interfaces
• Improve robot mass, stiffness, strength, range of motion, packaging efficiency, durability, and serviceability through iterative mechanical design
• Build and test prototypes rapidly, using physical testing and robot data to identify failure modes and drive design improvements
• Develop engineering requirements, tolerance analyses, test methods, and validation plans that demonstrate hardware performance and reliability
• Support hardware through prototype builds, design validation, NPI, and production ramp while resolving issues quickly and maintaining design intent
• Partner closely with controls, electrical, manufacturing, reliability, and supply chain teams to develop fully integrated robotic systems

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Generous paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave
• 401(k) plan with company match (100% on the first 3% of contributions, 50% on the next 2%)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) options
• Commuter benefits (transit and parking)
• Short-term and long-term disability, and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial, and personal support
• Onsite snacks and catered lunches

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior