R&D ASSISTANT — MECHANICAL DESIGN & CAD

Full-time · On-site · Yeerongpilly, Brisbane

Offset Robotics designs and manufactures parts and kits for competitive robotics — FTC teams, makers and hobbyists worldwide. We're looking for someone to join our engineering team and take on CAD and mechanical R&D for new products.

See what we build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2a6VOidNJM

THE ROLE

You'll work on new Offset products from concept through to production release: developing concepts, driving the design, running FEA, producing manufacturing drawings, and working with suppliers to get parts made correctly. Products go through months of design iteration and testing before release, and you'll be involved across that whole cycle rather than handed finished designs to draft.

WHAT YOU'LL WORK ON

• New product lines for FTC and hobbyist robotics — drivetrains, structure, motion components, kits
• Design for real manufacturing: 3/4/5-axis CNC, sheet metal and stamping, injection moulding
• Design for assembly, cost and volume, with production runs in the thousands

THE TEAM

We're a team of ten engineers working across product design and industrial automation. Offset sits within Robotine, an Australian automation company, so there's a well-equipped workshop and a lot of hardware experience in the building — including collaborative robot arms and automation cells built in-house. It's a genuinely collaborative environment: designs get reviewed properly, people ask for second opinions, and there's no shortage of engineers to learn from. There's also room to influence how the team works as the company grows.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

A strong technical portfolio. This matters more than anything else you send us. University projects, personal builds, competition robots or professional work all count. We want to see CAD you're proud of and evidence of out-of-the-box, and creative design thinking. Robotics and FTC-scale mechanisms are a big plus, and ex-FTC/FRC competitors are especially encouraged to apply.

2+ years of CAD experience. Employment years aren't required - university, competition and personal work all count.

• Preferred: Autodesk Inventor or Fusion
• Also fine: SolidWorks or Onshape

A thorough understanding of mechanical design and manufacturing:

• DFM/DFA
• Finite element analysis
• GD&T and drawing standards, and how to communicate design intent
• Common aluminium and steel finishes (anodising, zinc plating)
• 3/4/5-axis CNC capability and constraints
• Basic press brake and stamping processes

Someone who works well in a team, contributes to reviews, and wants to keep improving.

BONUS POINTS

• Mechanical or mechatronics engineering degree (not required - we care about design ability, not formal qualifications)
• PCB design and embedded systems for volume production
• Design methodology — skeletal modelling, top-down vs bottom-up assembly structure, and treating design as a search problem: generating and evaluating many candidate solutions rather than committing to the first one that works
• Design for injection moulding at production volume
• Running RFQs and managing global suppliers
• Sourcing and qualifying overseas factories (Alibaba or direct), placing POs, ordering samples, and QA documentation

WHAT WE OFFER

• A small team with high ownership and direct impact on products that ship
• Work alongside the founders and experienced robotics engineers
• Well-equipped workshop and fast access to prototypes and real hardware
• Overseas travel potential — we set up production in China, and there's scope to be part of that
• Long-term growth as the company expands into industrial automation products

LOCATION & WORK RIGHTS

281 Station Rd, Yeerongpilly QLD. Full-time, in-office. We can sponsor the right candidate, but you'll need to be based in Brisbane.

TO APPLY

Apply through LinkedIn with your CV and a link to your portfolio, or email your CV, cover letter and portfolio to [email protected].

We care more about real engineering ability and initiative than a polished corporate resume.