SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Apptronik is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer to lead the design and development of soft goods, robotic gloves, grip surfaces, and flexible protective interfaces for Apollo, a humanoid robot built for manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and home applications.
You will own the mechanical design and engineering of compliant systems that enable dexterous manipulation, human-robot interaction, and reliable operation in demanding real-world environments. This role spans the full product lifecycle—from concept through production—and requires collaboration across mechanical, electrical, controls, materials, manufacturing, and systems engineering teams.
Key responsibilities include:
• Lead mechanical design of robotic gloves, flexible covers, soft goods, and protective interfaces
• Design flexible textile systems using knit, woven, and engineered fabrics; select materials for stretch, durability, abrasion resistance, and environmental performance
• Develop high-performance flexible materials (UHMWPE, Kevlar, nylon, polyester, elastomers, technical textiles) and evaluate material properties and combinations
• Design textile and flexible-material solutions with water-resistant, protective, and functional coatings for environmental exposure and long-term durability
• Design elastomeric grip surfaces and compliant interfaces; select silicone and elastomers; develop surface geometries, textures, durometers, and friction characteristics
• Develop elastomer components using molding, overmolding, bonding, casting, and coatings; optimize tooling, process capability, and production quality with manufacturing partners
• Mechanically integrate tactile, pressure, force, and other sensors into gloves and soft goods; develop robust wiring routing, protection, strain relief, and termination strategies
• Define mechanical architectures for flexible assemblies, attachment systems, seams, closures, reinforcement structures, and interfaces to rigid robotic components
• Design and validate products against performance requirements including cut resistance, ESD protection, thermal performance, water/environmental resistance, and ingress protection
• Develop soft goods assemblies optimized for field installation, removal, inspection, repair, and replacement; establish modular architectures that minimize downtime
• Create detailed mechanical designs, drawings, specifications, and prototypes using industry-standard CAD tools
• Build and evaluate prototypes through hands-on testing, laboratory evaluation, and robotic system testing; develop test methods and drive design improvements
• Partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and suppliers to optimize designs for manufacturability, assembly, cost, and quality
The ideal candidate combines strong mechanical engineering fundamentals with hands-on expertise in textiles, flexible materials, elastomers, grip technologies, sensor integration, and manufacturing processes.
