About the company
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings.
About the role
We are seeking a Mechanical Design Engineer to lead the development of motor mechanical designs and prototype hardware for advanced robotic systems. This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires in-person presence 4 days a week.
Responsibilities
- Own stator and rotor mechanical designs and released CAD and drawings, including geometry, interfaces, fits, tolerances, retention, assembly access, and mechanical validation.
- Develop laminations, stack assembly methods, bobbins, and winding interfaces.
- Design, fabricate, and debug fixtures for winding, stacking, assembly, alignment, and inspection.
- Build and troubleshoot prototypes, using measurements, defects, rework, and assembly effort to improve designs and processes.
- Establish low-volume prototype production with equipment, build sequences, work instructions, revision control, traceability, and acceptance checks.
- Test new manufacturing methods and winding approaches.
- Work with electromagnetic, electrical, manufacturing, and test engineers to resolve tradeoffs.
Requirements
- Comfort moving between CAD, the shop, measurements, and hands-on builds.
- Understanding of how tolerances, insulation, tool access, and assembly sequence affect buildability.
- Ability to diagnose failed builds through evidence and focused experiments.
- Ability to build useful processes while designs evolve and document them.
- Clear communication of assumptions and tradeoffs.
Preferred qualifications
- Experience designing and building motors, actuators, or other precision electromechanical assemblies.
- Experience with lamination stacks, bobbins, winding, insulation interfaces, or small-component assembly.
- Proficiency in 3D CAD, manufacturing drawings, tolerance analysis, and fixture design, with hands-on metrology and inspection.
- Machining, additive manufacturing, bonding, or other prototype manufacturing processes.
- Interest in using AI to reduce repetitive design and prototype work.