Mechanical Engineer (Tripod)

About Peak Design

About the job

• In this role as Senior Mechanical Design Engineer on the Tripod team you will lead new product development and existing product improvement for our industry-leading photography and videography tripods and hardware accessories. You’ll own development of complex mechanical products from first prototypes to mass-production and you’ll be able to point not only at a small part of the finished product, but at the whole thing, and say with pride, “I made that”. 

  In 2019 we released the world’s most successful compact tripod, the Peak Design Travel Tripod. We spent 4 years in development and our customers went absolutely bananas for it. In 2024 we released the next evolution of this design: a larger, more premium, and more fully-featured set of tripods called the Pro Tripod line. Yes, we were incredibly creative with these product names, thank you for noticing! We are currently developing exciting new products in this category to serve the core Peak Design customer - the creative photo/video hobbyist or professional with a passion for exploring the outdoors. 

  In this role you will work with a small team of engineers and designers to develop, test, and manufacture the next generation of Peak Design tripods and photo/video hardware accessories to cement our market dominance in the photo/video hardware world. You’ll have ownership of products made up of complex mechanisms and assemblies that require a borderline-fanatical focus on developing the right blend of satisfying user experience, aesthetics, weight, performance and cost. You’ll employ your experience in mechanical design and hands-on prototyping to take product ideas all the way through to wildly successful product launches. Experience and passion for mechanism design is a must - these are complex machines with a multitude of moving, sliding, and rotating parts.

What you'll do:

• This role encompasses a broad set of responsibilities spanning the product ideation, prototyping, development, production and sustaining phases. Many companies split responsibility for these product lifecycle phases between different individuals or teams, with many “handoffs” along the way. We find that empowering a lead designer to shepherd the product from cradle to completion yields higher-quality and more innovative products, a stronger sense of ownership, and it’s simply more fun that way. 
• Early in each product development cycle you’ll spend time researching, learning from customers and industry experts, and using photo/video products yourself in order to build an informed opinion of how Peak Design can improve upon the status quo. You’ll develop and test product hypotheses, ensure we are targeting the right set of customer needs, and develop design requirements. 
• You’ll design and build works-like and looks-like prototypes using a combination of in-house tools - 3D printing, machine shop tools, scavenged and repurposed parts, a healthy dose of creativity, and occasionally hot glue and duct tape. We encourage scrappiness at the start and a refinement of prototype quality as the design itself matures. You MUST have a passion for this kind of hands-on product creation and refinement work to succeed here.
• You’ll interface heavily with our overseas contract manufacturers / vendors and our new (and growing) overseas engineering team. You’ll travel to run development builds at our supplier sites and be responsible for the success of these important milestones along the way to mass production.
• You’ll develop and implement rigorous test plans to qualify that your design meets all requirements and that the production and assembly process is stable and repeatable. You’ll invent new tests to simulate all the ways that the product could fail in a customer’s hands in order to ensure that it never does. Our products come with a lifetime warranty and we engineer them as such. 
• Of course, you’ll encounter frequent challenges and sometimes crises along the way. You’ll need to adapt and implement diligent and systematic problem solving skills to keep the project moving forward.

Desired skills and experience

• Strong mechanical experience and intuition, both hands-on and analytical; comfortable designing and debugging moving parts and mechanisms.
• Proven ownership of mechanical parts and assemblies from prototype through mass production for high-volume, customer-shipped products.
• You use and care a lot about gear (photography gear is a bonus, but other passion areas are great also). 
• You excel at breaking a complex problem down into actionable parts. You are capable of navigating surprise roadblocks with rational thinking and problem solving.
• Highly proficient in 3D CAD and complex assemblies (we use Onshape).
• Passion for hands-on prototyping – you prefer building and testing real things, not just modeling them.
• Experience with common manufacturing processes such as CNC machining, die casting, injection molding, stamping, extrusion, etc.
• Deep knowledge of engineering materials (metals, plastics, elastomers) and finishes (anodizing, painting, powdercoating, plating).
• Experience working within a phase-gate development process (Proto, EVT, DVT, PVT, MP).
• Prior experience working with Asian suppliers, including in-person factory work, line bring-up, and cross-cultural vendor communication.
• You possess hustle, humility, and a technical growth mindset. You want to grow as an engineer by designing & shipping many products. You're excited about technical problems and are curious about new technical topics.

Role requirements

• You’re local to the San Francisco Bay Area (or willing to relocate for this role) and excited to work from our office/workshop in the Dogpatch a minimum of 3 days per week. 
• You hold an undergraduate or graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design, or comparable degree or experience. 
• You have 5+ years of full-time work experience doing mechanical design work on products that have shipped to customers.
• Willing and eager to travel to China or other parts of Asia to visit our suppliers at least 2-3 times per year

Salary Range

• $160,000 - $190,000
• Compensation will vary based on geographic location and level. Leveling, as well as positioning within a level, is determined by a range of factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate's relevant years of experience, domain knowledge, and interview performance. The salary range listed in this posting is representative of the range of levels Peak Design is considering for this position.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

At Peak Design we believe a diverse team is an innovative team and something worth celebrating. A range of perspectives and backgrounds creates a stronger and more creative work environment (not to mention more fun). We’re committed to equality and inclusivity across race, gender, age, religion, identity, and experience.

Some candidates may see a long list of job requirements and feel discouraged because they don’t match every single bullet point – we strongly encourage you to apply anyway! If what we do resonates with you, and you feel excited and able to contribute, we’re equally stoked for the opportunity to engage with you.

Applicants may review Peak Design's Equal Employment Opportunity Commitment as well as our Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Prevention Policy, here. Additional resources, including how to file a discrimination complaint, can be found on the State of California's Civil Rights Department website, along with publications CRD-E07P-ENG, CRD-185P-ENG, and CRD-185-ENG.