Principal Mechanical Engineer

Pickle Robot Company

Principal Mechanical Engineer designing robotic unloading platforms at fast-growing robotics company. Collaborating across teams to ensure reliability, manufacturability, and performance on the warehouse dock.

Posted 5/13/2026full-timeCharlestown • Massachusetts • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $156,000 - $180,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead the mechanical design of major robotic platforms across the full product lifecycle, from concept and prototyping through NPI and sustained field deployment.
Set the technical direction for how the Robot platforms are architected, packaged, and manufactured; make system-level decisions that hold up through production and deployment, not just during design review.
Define design requirements, perform tolerance stack-ups, and drive interface decisions across complex assemblies integrating actuators, sensors, and electronics.
Ensure structural integrity of mechanical assemblies: define load cases, run or direct finite element analysis (FEA), select materials, and validate through physical test.
Conduct simulations, testing, and prototyping to validate designs.
Create detailed technical drawings, CAD models, and documentation.
Troubleshoot and resolve issues during design, production, and deployment.
Drive design solutions through sketches and CAD, gather cross-functional input early, and build alignment across stakeholders before committing to a direction.
Ensure compliance with industry standards, safety regulations, and quality control processes.
Support production teams in scaling and improving manufacturing processes for robotics hardware.
Serve as a technical anchor for the mechanical engineering team, setting the bar for design rigor, documentation quality, and engineering judgment.
Mentor and develop junior and mid-level engineers through design reviews, hands-on guidance, DFM coaching, and best-practice modeling.
Lead and participate in cross-functional design reviews, identifying risks early and driving alignment across hardware, software, and manufacturing stakeholders.
Lead continuous improvement efforts in robot performance and reliability.

Requirements

What you’ll need

A bachelor’s or master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.
A Mechanical Engineer with 10+ years of experience, ideally in robotics, automation, consumer electronics, aerospace, or EV, with a strong structural design background and a track record of technical ownership at the system level.
FEA experience that goes beyond the resume line. Has worked through real structural problems. The candidate should be able to set up their own analyses, sanity-check results with hand calculations, and close the loop with physical test data rather than trusting the model.
Must have experience designing machined, sheet metal, and welded parts in OnShape and submitting documentation through ECO’s and deviations in Arena or other similar tools.
Comfortable ordering and building prototypes by hand to validate their ideas through prototyping and testing.
Must have performed tolerance stackups, reviewed FAI’s, PPAP’s, and worked on DFMEA’s throughout their career.
Has followed designs through the production line, diagnosing and fixing issues in engineering or production builds, as well as in the field.
Strong engineering judgment across both design and hands-on execution, with the ability to move between CAD, simulation, building, testing, and debugging real hardware.
Adept at communicating complex concepts and writing technical documents.
Experience evaluating design, performance, and logistical tradeoffs for hardware systems.
Experienced in designing for a range of manufacturing processes, including CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, welding, and 3D printing.
Able to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
Comfortable thinking at the product level, seeing how mechanical subsystems connect, package, and are manufactured together, and can make system-level architecture calls that hold up through production and deployment, not just through the design review.
Experience mentoring or technically guiding junior and mid-level engineers on design reviews, DFM, and best practices.
Willing and able to work from our Charlestown, MA office at least 4 days per week.

Benefits

Comp & perks

health, dental, & vision insurance
unlimited vacation, along with all federal and state holidays
401K contributions of 5% your salary
travel supplies
other items to make your working life more fun, comfortable, and productive

ATS Keywords

✓ Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

mechanical designfinite element analysis (FEA)tolerance stack-upsdesign for manufacturing (DFM)CAD modelingprototypingstructural design3D printingCNC machiningsheet metal fabrication

Soft Skills

engineering judgmentcommunicationmentoringcollaborationproblem-solvingcross-functional alignmenttechnical ownershipdesign rigorhands-on executioncontinuous improvement