Senior Mechanical Engineer - Soft Good/Gloves/Grip

About this role

Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.

We operate at the cutting edge of Applied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.

JOB SUMMARY

Apptronik is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer – Soft Goods / Gloves / Grip to lead the mechanical design and development of soft goods, robotic gloves, grip surfaces, and flexible protective interfaces for our humanoid robot, Apollo. This role is responsible for delivering robust, manufacturable, serviceable, and high-performance soft mechanical systems that enable dexterous manipulation, human-robot interaction, protection, sensing, and reliable operation in demanding real-world environments.

You will work across mechanical, electrical, controls, materials, manufacturing, systems engineering, and suppliers to develop innovative flexible and elastomeric components from concept through production. The ideal candidate combines strong mechanical engineering fundamentals with hands-on expertise in textiles, flexible materials, elastomers, grip technologies, sensor integration, and manufacturing processes.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Soft Goods & Glove Design: Lead the mechanical design and development of robotic gloves, flexible covers, soft goods, protective interfaces, and other compliant mechanical systems for Apollo.

• Flexible Textile Engineering: Design and develop products using flexible textiles and textile-based structures, including knit and woven constructions, engineered fabrics, and stretch materials. Select appropriate materials and architectures based on stretch, durability, abrasion resistance, flexibility, breathability, and environmental requirements.

• Advanced Materials: Develop and apply high-performance flexible materials such as UHMWPE, Kevlar/aramid fibers, nylon, polyester, elastomers, and other technical textiles. Evaluate material properties, constructions, and combinations to achieve required mechanical and environmental performance.

• Coatings & Environmental Protection: Develop textile and flexible-material solutions incorporating water-resistant, protective, and functional coatings. Design for environmental exposure, ingress protection, abrasion, contamination, and long-term durability.

• Grip Surface Development: Design elastomeric grip surfaces and compliant interfaces for robotic hands and manipulation systems. Select materials such as silicone and other elastomers and develop appropriate surface geometries, textures, durometers, and friction characteristics.

• Elastomer Manufacturing: Develop components using elastomer manufacturing processes including molding, overmolding, bonding, casting, and coatings. Work with manufacturing partners to optimize tooling, process capability, tolerances, and production quality.

• Sensor & Wiring Integration: Mechanically integrate tactile, pressure, force, and other sensors into gloves, grip surfaces, and soft goods. Develop robust strategies for routing, protecting, strain-relieving, and terminating wiring and flexible electrical interfaces within moving and compliant structures.

• Mechanical Architecture: Define mechanical architectures for flexible assemblies, attachment systems, retention features, seams, closures, reinforcement structures, grip interfaces, and interfaces to rigid robotic components.

• Protection & Performance Ratings: Design and validate products against applicable performance requirements, including cut resistance, ESD protection, thermal performance, water and environmental resistance, and ingress protection.

• Design for Serviceability: Develop soft goods and glove assemblies that can be efficiently installed, removed, inspected, repaired, and replaced in the field. Establish service interfaces and modular architectures that minimize downtime and simplify maintenance.

• CAD & Design Development: Create detailed mechanical designs, drawings, specifications, and prototypes using industry-standard CAD and engineering tools. Drive designs from early concepts through detailed design, prototyping, validation, and production.

• Prototype Development & Validation: Build and evaluate prototypes through hands-on testing, laboratory evaluation, and robotic system testing. Develop test methods and use results to drive design improvements in durability, fit, grip performance, flexibility, and reliability.

• DFM & Production Support: Partner closely with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and suppliers to optimize designs for manufacturability, assembly, cost, quality, scalability, and repeatable production.

• Supplier & Manufacturer Collaboration: Work directly with textile mills, soft-goods manufacturers, molding suppliers, contract manufacturers, and other partners to develop components, review manufacturing processes, resolve technical issues, and qualify production-ready designs.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Collaborate closely with Electrical, Controls, Sensors, Systems, Firmware, Manufacturing, and Robotics teams to ensure seamless integration of mechanical, electrical, sensing, and functional requirements.

• Reliability & Problem Solving: Investigate failures and field issues through root-cause analysis, develop corrective actions, and drive improvements in product reliability, durability, and performance.

• Technical Leadership: Mentor junior engineers, establish best practices for soft goods and flexible mechanical design, and provide technical leadershi

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