Mechanical Design Engineer
Instrumental
Design
Palo Alto, CA, USA
USD 108k-122k / year
Posted on Nov 19, 2025
Mechanical Design Engineer
Palo Alto, CA
Sales
Hybrid
Full-time
Instrumental technology is used by the world’s most admired electronics brands like Bose, Cisco, and SolarEdge to significantly reduce the 20 cents of waste in every dollar spent on manufacturing. Our technology leverages AI from data coming off of the manufacturing floor to automate failure identification and resolution – improving yield, quality, and time to market.
About the Role:
As an Associate Mechanical Design Engineer, you will work with Instrumental’s growing Hardware Design & Solutions team, supporting the design and development of solutions for Fortune 100 customers. You will leverage your design and manufacturing intuition to develop custom and complex fixtures, optical systems, and station/industrial hardware.
The Solutions team is part of our larger sales organization, which is uniquely full of former mechanical engineers who are now using their skills to support and enable engineers around the world. Our Solutions team is scrappy and entrepreneurial – this is a team that doesn’t wait for things to happen, we make them happen. Successful team members are problem-solvers and adaptable. When it’s not in the playbook, they create the next play. This team is critical to scoping, selling, and successfully implementing Instrumental technology on NPI and production lines for products as diverse as smartglasses, the F-35, and high-performance compute racks. Every customer and product is different – leading to exciting, impactful projects.
Our team thrives on curiosity and collaboration — learning from our customers and each other to tackle the unique challenges behind every product. We’ve built a culture of continuous improvement and creative problem-solving, and we’re looking for someone eager to contribute their own ideas and expertise to help us continue to level up.
You’ll tackle novel design challenges and leverage mechanical engineering fundamentals, CAD fluency, and knowledge of manufacturing processes. Good listening and natural curiosity are critical, as this role is all about understanding and designing for Instrumental’s users and integrating seamlessly into their processes. This is an excellent role for early-career mechanical engineers looking to develop real-world design, manufacturing, and customer-facing skills.
We’re Looking for Someone Who:
- Has a get-stuff-done attitude and is eager to learn from challenging problems
- Has attention to detail and enjoys continuously improving and optimizing their work
- Can take a mission, understand the requirements, and follow through reliably
What You’ll Be Doing:
- Design Delivery: Create fixtures and optical designs for a wide range of products, ranging in size from tiny wearables to industrial appliances, that integrate smoothly into customer lines and processes
- Design Communication: Join customer meetings with senior team members to gather requirements and understand workflows; collaborate internally with sales, Solutions Architects, and our global operations team to deliver for the customer
- Project Execution: Clearly communicate accurate timeline expectations and execute on high-quality designs to ensure our Operations team meets all of their committed deploy dates
- Rapid Learning: Develop foundational knowledge of manufacturing processes through hands-on exposure and mentorship
- Travel occasionally on-site to customers to understand their unique integration requirements, oversee new designs in action, and identify ways to improve the next one
We’re a growing team that consistently works collaboratively, is supportive of each other, and is highly energized by the opportunity for large impact. We actively work to promote an inclusive environment, valuing passion and the ability to learn. You’re encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn’t precisely match the job description!
The following is a representative annual base salary range for this position within the Bay Area: $108-122k. Job level and salary opportunities are evaluated through our interview process – we review the experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of each applicant.
All candidates must have an unrestricted right to work in the U.S.
Req ID: R34