Mechanical Design Engineer (Physical Robotics)

Mechanical Design Engineer (Physical Robotics)

Position: Mechanical Design Engineer

Location: Remote

Employment Type: Full-time

Reports to: CEO / CTO

About Us

We are building a new category of hardware: a small, mobile, autonomous device designed for indoor use, combining sensing, mobility, and intelligent behaviour. This is early, foundational work, and you will be one of the first people building out this discipline within the team.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Mechanical Design Engineer to own the structural design, actuation systems, and manufacturability of a new physical hardware product. You will turn creative and behavioural concepts into a structurally sound, safe, and manufacturable object, working closely with the people defining how the device looks and moves.

The gap between "this looks and moves the way we want" and "this can actually be built, survives real-world use, and is manufacturable at scale" is where most hardware products fail. This role owns that gap.

You are not expected to be a character designer or animator. You are expected to bring deep mechanical engineering competence, with enough fluency in motion and industrial design conversations to collaborate without a translator.

Key Responsibilities

Structural & Mechanical Design

• Own the mechanical architecture of the device: chassis, housing, internal layout, and structural load paths
• Design for real manufacturing constraints: injection-moulded engineering polymers, wall thickness, draft angles, radio-transparent apertures, cleanable surfaces, and thermal limits
• Select materials and finishes in collaboration with the character/industrial design lead, balancing durability, cost, weight, and manufacturability
• Perform tolerance stack-up analysis and structural (FEA) analysis to validate designs before tooling

Actuation & Motion Systems

• Design and specify the mechanical systems that enable the device's movement: motors, gearing, joints, linkages, and drive mechanisms
• Define and maintain the physical envelope (degrees of freedom, velocity, acceleration, load, duty cycle) that motion and behaviour design must work within, updating it as hardware matures
• Manage thermal, power, and mechanical load considerations across the drive and actuation system
• Design docking, charging, and any other mechanical interface systems for reliability and repeat-use durability

Manufacturing & Prototyping

• Take designs from concept through prototyping (3D printing, CNC) to production-ready tooling
• Apply design-for-manufacture and design-for-assembly (DFM/DFA) principles throughout, not as a late-stage check
• Work directly with contract manufacturers and tooling vendors to resolve production issues
• Build and test physical prototypes, iterating quickly as engineering constraints are discovered

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the character/motion design lead to ensure animated intent is physically achievable, and flag early when it isn't
• Work with firmware and electrical engineering to integrate sensors, wiring, and boards within the mechanical envelope
• Review prototype builds against design intent and drive the gap closed
• Never present a mechanical capability the hardware cannot actually deliver; every specification signed off on is one the team will be held to, by engineering and eventually by users

Requirements

Experience

• Mechanical engineering degree or demonstrated equivalent hands-on experience
• Real experience with design-for-manufacture, injection moulding, and material selection for engineering polymers
• Experience designing small-form-factor consumer electronics or robotics enclosures, where space, weight, and cost are all tightly constrained
• Experience specifying and integrating motors, gearboxes, and actuation systems
• Comfortable working from prototype through to production, including hands-on prototyping (3D printing, CNC)

Technical Skills

• Full command of 3D CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or similar) for mechanical design and assembly modelling
• Experience with tolerance stack-up analysis and structural/FEA analysis
• Working English

Core Competencies

• Strong collaborator, able to work directly with industrial designers or animators to translate creative intent into engineering specification
• High attention to manufacturability, safety, and structural integrity
• Comfortable working inside hard technical constraints and iterating quickly as new limitations surface
• Self-motivated and able to operate with real ownership on a discipline that is still being built out

Preferred Experience

• Prior experience on physical consumer hardware: robotics, consumer electronics, wearables, or animatronics
• Some scripting ability (Python or similar) for design automation or prototyping tools
• Familiarity with electrical safety and compliance standards relevant to consumer hardware
• CMF (colour, material, finish) experience with moulded polymers, soft-touch coatings, or light-diffusing surfaces

Compensation

₦500,000 monthly

How to Apply

Send your CV and portfolio (CAD work, prototypes, or products you've taken to manufacturing) to: hr@15wins.com

Subject line: Mechanical Design Engineer Application – [Your Full Name]

Only qualified candidates will be contacted.