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Mechanical Engineer

San Francisco, CA

Mechanical Design Engineer

San Francisco, CA

At IDEO, we use design to create new products, services, experiences, tangible strategies, and creative capabilities.

IDEO San Francisco is in search of a Mechanical Design Engineer to partner with interdisciplinary teams designing innovative and human-centered physical products and services. The ideal candidate will bring a thorough “build to think” style of working, champion hands-on prototyping, and collaborate fluidly with a wide variety of design professionals from communications design to UX researchers (and everything in between). This hire will have the unique opportunity to design cutting edge products, and grow as a design thinking practitioner within IDEO’s diverse network of Design Directors, Partners, and Business Leaders.

At IDEO, a Mechanical Design Engineer is responsible for independently executing components of highly complex client projects, showcasing advanced skills in mechanical design, knowledge of manufacturing processes, and an ability to collaborate closely with multi-disciplinary designers to realize a product vision. You will bridge form and function, while balancing user needs and technical considerations to create solutions that resonate with end users and businesses alike. 

What makes a career at IDEO unique is our radical empathy and compassion for the user, always leading with creative confidence and collaborative rigor. Engineers at IDEO creatively solve technical challenges, design components or product ideas as quickly and cost-effectively as possible within given usability and manufacturing constraints, and contribute to a variety of IDEO client challenges throughout the entire design process–from research to ideation to realization.   

You will work with world-class researchers, business designers, data scientists, and others disciplines outside of design, to push the edges of your craft, creating solutions that are as inclusive as they are transformative. 

We are especially excited to meet candidates with exceptional visual storytelling abilities, a drive to get tangible by prototyping in both digital and physical realms, and a grounding in design for manufacturing (DFM) principles and practices. This hire must be within a commutable distance of IDEO’s San Francisco studio. IDEO proudly supports flexible work.

Once here you will:

  • Apply your engineering expertise to develop compelling physical product architectures, balancing form, function, and manufacturability.
  • Present ideas through sketches, CAD models, and physical prototypes to clients and team members.
  • Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including industrial designers, software developers, interaction designers, brand strategists, and design researchers.
  • Develop novel and comprehensive mechanisms, surfaces, and assemblies in a 3D CAD software (Solidworks preferred).
  • Actively contribute to and lead in-person, prototype-driven research with users to inform design strategies. Your design responsibilities will include making prototypes for user testing, as well as joining design research activities to learn from users.
  • Create prototypes at varying fidelities using tools such as 3D printers (Bambu, Prusa, Form Labs) and other rapid prototyping methods to explore, test, and validate design concepts iteratively.
  • Deliver exceptional visual storytelling and compelling presentations using tools like Adobe Creative Suite, 3D CAD, and other visual tools.
  • Mentor other designers by sharing knowledge and demonstrating advanced craft techniques.

Qualifications / Experience:

  • 3-5+ years of experience in mechanical engineering or product design, including examples of significant contributions to projects in consumer products, medical devices, or related fields.
  • Professional experience with one or more of the following:
    • Complex Mechanism Design: proven ability to design, test, and develop robust mechanisms for products like medical devices or consumer electronics.
    • Packaging: Understand basic structural packaging design and sustainability considerations.
    • Health and Life Sciences Products: Usability and functionality with a focus on ergonomics and medical-specific requirements.
    • Injection Molded Plastic Part Design: Having a general knowledge of tooling approaches to aid in part design, including awareness of techniques like overmolding.
    • Design for Manufacturing and Assembly: Having a general understanding of the types of trade-offs and decisions that need to be made when designing a product for mass production.
    • Proof of Concept Prototyping: Functional prototypes to explore a key design challenge and prove something is technically feasible.
    • Research Model Prototyping: Prototyping to create different models to elicit user feedback during research sessions.

  • Previous work highlighting the ability to work with electro-mechanical systems or subassemblies in conjunction with a product’s mechanical architecture.
  • Demonstrated fluency in digital tools such as 3D CAD (SolidWorks preferred), Figma, and Adobe Creative Suite.
  • New product launch experience, with the ability to lead cross-functional teams in future initiatives.
  • Prototyping expertise, including 3D printing and rapid iteration methods.
  • Curiosity and drive to grow in one or more edge skills:
    • Strategy & Needfinding frameworks.
    • Digital Interaction Design.
    • Coding, Hacking, Software Development.
    • AI driven generative workflows.

Salary & Benefits:

The salary range for this role is $70,000 - $125,000 USD. This range is influenced by several factors, including skills, experience, and geographic location. Final offers may vary based on these considerations.

In addition to competitive base compensation, IDEO offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance (vision, dental, and healthcare), financial benefits (401K matching), and family and caregiving support (parental leave, adoption assistance, etc.). We also provide flexible work arrangements, an annual education stipend, and a home office stipend to support your well-being and professional growth.

Commitment to Diversity

At IDEO, we are committed to the work of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization and in the world. Our purpose of having disproportionate, world-changing impact through design is directly connected to our ability to bring many different perspectives to the table. This applies to our candidates, the people we hire, the clients and customers we serve, and the communities we learn from in our research.

As a human-centered organization, we are committed to working with and designing for people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, physical ability or attribute, religion, national origin, or political belief. We recognize that this commitment requires ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices. We keep our diversity data public for the sake of accountability and transparency. These commitments will also be part of your journey at IDEO, so please feel free to read more about them here.

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