Field AI
Mechanical Engineer, Autonomous Vehicles (Federal)
$100K–$240K
Irvine, CA · On-site · Full-time · Posted May 11, 2026
- Experience
- Recruiting across a wide range of experience levels, from entry-level engineers to senior and staff engineers; no specific number of years stated.
- Education
- B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
- Visa sponsorship
- U.S. Person eligibility required for federal-team projects; includes U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, refugees, or asylees.
About the job
Design, integrate, test, and support mechanical systems for wheeled autonomous robotic platforms used in federal and commercial field deployments.
What you'll do
- Design mechanical structures, enclosures, mounts, ingress protection, and thermal-management solutions within weight and volume constraints.
- Create CAD and simulations; prototype and validate systems through mechanical, thermal, and ingress testing; produce drawings and manufacturing documentation.
- Support production, vendor coordination, quality checks, integration, and troubleshooting during testing and field deployments.
What they ask for
- Proficiency with SolidWorks or equivalent mechanical CAD platforms.
- Familiarity with FEA and thermal modeling tools.
- Experience designing hardware for vibration, shock, thermal cycling, and environmental exposure.
- Experience with manufacturing workflows and integrating mechanical systems with compute, sensors, and power electronics.
Nice to have
- Experience scaling systems from prototype to production or developing robotics for harsh field environments.
- Experience with deployed robotics, systems-level robotics, or reliability standards such as IP ratings or MIL-STD.
Pay
USD 100,000–240,000 (per-year-salary) base salary
Tools
SolidWorks, FEA, thermal modeling, CNC, sheet metal, additive manufacturing, GD&T, BOMs
AI focus
The role supports mechanical systems for autonomous robotic platforms; no specific AI development work is stated.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative