San Francisco, California, United States · On-site
About the role We're looking for a Founding Manufacturing Engineer to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics turns designs into hardware. This is intentionally a hands-on founding role. You'll own the machine shop end …
Skills: CNC Machining, CAM, Fusion 360, GD&T, Metrology
San Francisco, California, United States · On-site
About the role We're looking for a Senior Mechanical Engineer to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics designs and ships precision hardware. This is intentionally a deep ownership role. You'll own a core mechanical su…
Skills: Precision Mechanical Design, FEA, Structural Analysis, Fabrication, Assembly
San Francisco, California, United States · On-site
About the role We're looking for a Hardware Technician to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics builds and tests hardware day-to-day. This is intentionally a hands-on, high-ownership role. You'll support multiple team…
Skills: CAD, 3D Printing, Hardware Diagnostics, Project Prioritization, Technical Documentation
San Francisco, California, United States · On-site
About the role We're looking for a Founding Software Engineer to own how Gradient Robotics moves data from AI models to actuators. You'll work close to the hardware, from kernel and firmware up through the controls and p…
Skills: Rust, Python, C++, Linux Kernel, Embedded Systems
San Francisco, California, United States · On-site
About the role We're looking for a Mechanical Engineer to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics turns designs into working hardware. This is intentionally a hands-on ownership role. You'll own a subassembly and its pa…
Skills: Mechanical Design, FEA, Tolerance Analysis, Fabrication, Machining
San Francisco, California, United States · On-site
About the role We're looking for a Software Engineer to help move data from AI models to actuators. You'll work close to the hardware, from kernel and firmware up through the controls and perception layers, contributing …
Skills: Rust, C++, Python, Operating Systems, Multithreading
San Francisco, California, United States · On-site
About the role We're looking for an Electrical Engineer to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics reads and controls its machines. This is intentionally an end-to-end ownership role. You'll own electrical hardware desi…
Skills: Electrical Hardware Design, PCB Design, Electrical Controls Engineering, Firmware Development, Industrial Automation
San Francisco, California, United States · On-site
About the role We're looking for a Controls Engineer to own motion from command to actuator. You'll design and tune the control loops that let our machines do sub-millimeter precision work under real load: motor control,…
Skills: Control Theory, C++, Rust, Python, Motor Control
San Francisco, California, United States · On-site
About the role We're looking for a Founding Business Operations lead to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics runs day-to-day. This is intentionally a broad founding role. You'll own the company's operational backbone…
Skills: Finance Operations, People Operations, Vendor Management, KPI Tracking, HR Compliance
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Own and operate the in-house machine shop, managing equipment and CAM processes to produce precision hardware. Partner with the engineering team to improve design for manufacturability and manage external machining vendors.
Requires hands-on experience with 3-axis CNC machining, CAM software, and metrology tools. Must be able to work on-site in San Francisco and possess a systems-minded approach to documentation and fixturing.
We're looking for a Founding Manufacturing Engineer to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics turns designs into hardware. This is intentionally a hands-on founding role. You'll own the machine shop end to end while partnering closely with engineers on whatever is highest leverage at any given moment. This is a role for someone who loves turning drawings into precision parts: you'll see a difficult geometry, figure out the fixturing and toolpaths to nail it, and share what you learned so the next part comes out faster. You'll touch nearly every part we build, which means real ownership and room to grow quickly. The impact is significant: you'll keep the in-house shop on critical-path work and turn parts around in hours instead of weeks, while making sure nothing blocks the engineering team from iterating.
Own the machine shop: operate and maintain our metal manufacturing equipment, including the drill press, CNC router, CNC mill, sheet metal brake, and band saw
Own CAM and workholding: run Fusion 360, design fixturing and soft jaws, and hold aerospace-style tolerances on aluminum and steel parts
Be an extension of the engineering team: give design feedback that improves DFM and DFA, and help engineers design parts that are faster and cheaper to make
Own outsourced machining: manage external vendors for harder geometries (roughly 2-week lead times) so the in-house shop stays focused on critical-path work
Build repeatable processes so common parts run without rework, and document setups, fixtures, and tooling so nothing needs to be figured out twice
Hands-on CNC machining experience (3-axis minimum; multi-axis a plus)
Strong CAM and feeds-and-speeds intuition for aluminum and steel
Experience with metrology (CMM, height gauge, etc.) and GD&T
Relentless finisher: nothing you own leaves the shop out of spec, no part goes missing, no deadline slips quietly
Systems-minded: your instinct after making something twice is to fixture it, template it, or document it
Able to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days/week (6 days/week if needed during crunch time), embedded in the team
Experience at a hardware, robotics, or aerospace company
Experience managing outside machine shops and vendor relationships
Comfort using AI tools to multiply your own output
