SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Salary: USD 250,000 - 280,000 / annual
Aescape is a New York-based physical AI and robotics company building intelligent, precision bodywork systems that deliver personalized recovery through real-time body mapping, advanced robotics, and proprietary software. The company powers recovery across leading fitness, hospitality, and wellness environments including Equinox, Life Time, Marriott, Hilton, Four Seasons, and others, and is backed by Valor Equity Partners, BroadLight Capital, and Mecha Ventures.
You will serve as the technical lead for the mechanical engineering domain, owning the mechanical master model and driving system-level integration across the robot platform. This is a hands-on principal individual contributor role on a small, senior hardware team.
Key responsibilities include:
- Mechanical Architecture & System Integration: Own the mechanical master model and ensure actuators, drivetrain, structure, and adjacent mechanisms work as a coherent system. Make architecture-level tradeoffs across cost, weight, acoustics, reliability, and perceived quality.
- Design, Analysis & Validation: Lead design, analysis, prototyping, and validation of mechanical subsystems across deployed fleet and next-generation platforms. Build and test prototypes; drive design decisions from test data and physics.
- Design Methodology & Technical Leadership: Set design methodology and best practices for the mechanical engineering domain, including CAD standards, FEA rigor, and tolerance analysis. Raise technical bar through CAD reviews, design reviews, and mentorship.
- Cost Engineering & DFM: Identify and engineer out hidden costs through strategic design changes and simplification. Refine designs for manufacturability, optimize tooling and fixtures, and improve assembly processes.
- Manufacturing & Supplier Partnership: Work directly with supply chain, contract manufacturer, and key suppliers on manufacturability and selection. Lead prototype builds through NPI into production and produce technical documentation (CAD, BOMs, drawings, cost reports).
- Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with Electrical, Firmware, Controls, Operations, and Quality teams on motor selection, sensors, force-controlled tuning, reliability, and production readiness.
- Technology Roadmap: Contribute mechanical perspective to overall technology roadmap, researching and evaluating options in actuation, transmissions, sensing, and structure.
- Travel: As needed for supplier and contract manufacturer engagements, including international travel.
Requirements:
- BS in Mechanical Engineering (MS preferred) with 10+ years of mechanical engineering experience, including significant work on actuators, drivetrains, or complex motorized mechanical assemblies for human-interaction or safety-relevant products (robotics, medical devices, industrial automation, automotive, or similar).
- Track record of owning mechanical architecture and system-level integration across subsystems; experience as senior technical authority for a mechanical domain.
- Expert proficiency in SolidWorks with strong capabilities in FEA, kinematics, dynamics, GD&T, and tolerance analysis.
- Deep knowledge of manufacturing processes including sheet metal, welding, casting, CNC machining, injection molding, and assembly; direct experience with contract manufacturers through EVT, DVT, PVT, and mass production.
- Proven history of successful cost-down initiatives and hidden cost identification; proficiency in should-cost modeling and cost estimation tools.
- Hands-on builder who prototypes, instruments, characterizes, and tests work; comfortable in lab and on factory floor.
- Cross-disciplinary fluency with Electrical, Firmware, and Controls engineers; understanding of mechanical design within larger electromechanical systems.
- Technical leadership skills demonstrated through technical reviews, written architectural guidance, and mentorship.
- Pragmatic judgment on tradeoffs with limited data; ability to know when to test versus decide; avoids analysis paralysis.
- High standards for craftsmanship and how products look, sound, and feel.
- Comfort with ambiguity and ability to pivot as priorities shift in fast-moving startup; willingness to take on work outside core role.
Location: Fully on-site from NYC office OR based in greater Boston area with ability to travel to NYC office regularly.
