Graduate Hardware Engineer (Auckland or Tauranga)

About Machines at Work

We are a startup developing 'bolt-on' autonomy for the agricultural sector - hardware and software that turn existing tractors, sprayers, and harvesters into autonomous machines. We combine vision-based navigation and AI with rugged hardware to deliver cost-effective, intuitive autonomy that growers can trust.

The core technology has been proven in the field, and commercial trials are underway in New Zealand and California.

This is a small team building complex systems. The work requires curiosity, sound judgement and the ability to make progress without a detailed brief.

The Role

We're looking for a graduate engineer who wants to work across both electronics and mechanical hardware. One week you might be revising and routing a PCB, the next you're modifying an enclosure, designing a sensor bracket for a new tractor model, or building a rig to test it.

You'll work alongside our electronics and mechanical engineers, learning from both. We're a small team, so you'll have real ownership of what you build - taking it from design through prototypes and testing to working machines, rather than handing it off between departments. We don't mind which discipline your degree is in - we care that you're keen and able to pick up tools and skills from the other side.

Alongside design work at your desk, you'll spend plenty of time in the workshop and out on farms, mainly around New Zealand, with possible trips to Queensland and California.

Key Responsibilities

- Update schematics and route PCB revisions for our existing boards, then order, assemble and bring them up

- Bench test and debug electronics - power, communications (CAN, Ethernet, serial) and sensor interfaces

- Make design changes to our electronics enclosures - connectors, cable glands, sealing, mounting - and run validation tests such as IP ingress, vibration and thermal

- Design, prototype and test brackets and mounts for sensors, actuators and enclosures across different tractor models

- Design and build wiring harnesses

- Build test rigs and run mechanical and environmental tests, and write up what you find

- Write scripts to automate testing and analyse results

- Support hardware builds and installs on customer tractors

Who You Are

- A recent (or soon-to-be) graduate in mechatronics, electrical/electronic, mechanical engineering or similar

- Genuinely interested in both electronics and mechanical design, with experience in at least one and enthusiasm to learn the other

- Hands-on - you've built real things through student projects, competition teams (e.g. Formula SAE, robotics, rocketry, solar car) or your own builds

- A fast learner who can pick up unfamiliar tools, work through problems independently, and knows when to ask for help

- Confident, frequent use of AI tools to speed up learning, coding, design and testing, with the judgement to verify their output

- Someone who enjoys testing - proving that something works, and finding out why when it doesn't

- Self-driven, comfortable with uncertainty, and excited by a lean startup environment

Helpful Skills (ticking some of these boxes is great)

- Electronics design: we use EasyEDA, but KiCad, Altium or similar carries straight across; soldering including SMD; using a multimeter, oscilloscope and bench supply

- Mechanical design: we use Fusion, but SolidWorks, Onshape or any other CAD carries straight across; 3D printing; basic fabrication and machining

- Embedded and software: C/C++, Python, microcontrollers (STM32, ESP32, Arduino), Linux

- Designing for outdoor or harsh environments

- Agricultural, vehicle or heavy machinery experience

Why Join Us?

- Breadth - work across electronics, mechanical design, testing and field engineering rather than being boxed into one

- Mentorship - work directly with experienced electronics and mechanical engineers

- Real-world engineering - see how your designs perform on working machinery, and improve them based on what you learn

Practical Things

- Auckland or Tauranga based, with time in both

- We run a hybrid working model, with lots of workshop and field time

- Full-time graduate role

- Driver's licence required

- Available to travel

When you apply, tell us about something you've built that you're proud of. Projects that combine electronics and mechanical design are especially interesting to us, but what matters most is what you made, the decisions you made along the way, and what you learned. Links to a portfolio, GitHub or project write-ups are very welcome. If you can't attach it during the application, send it to careers@machinesatwork.com.