Robotics - Mechanical Engineer

Engineering Role in Autonomous Surface Robotics

Join a funded field-robotics project at ETH Zurich (Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, Research D'Andrea). This is a project employee (staff) role focused on delivering engineering work for the life of the project. It is not a PhD position and not an academic training track. The team builds autonomous surface robots that must survive rain, spray, transport, and real water, then return for the next campaign.

This role is designed for someone with a mechanical and hardware bent who wants ownership rather than a fixed drawing list. You will shape the physical platform, including structure, mechanisms, sealing, mounts, and the processes for building and fixing components. The scope will widen as designs move from prototype to fleet and as field lessons rewrite assumptions. Specialization helps you start strong, while curiosity across the stack allows you to grow into broader responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the physical robot, including structure, mechanisms, enclosures, mounts, and the path from idea to a part that can be built again.
• Design with manufacture, assembly, sealing, and service in mind, then prove it with prototypes, fixtures, and tests, including outdoors.
• Work at the seams with electronics and software, addressing space, connectors, heat, cables, access, and the effects of water and vibration.
• Partner with workshops, suppliers, and technicians so drawings turn into reliable assemblies and field issues turn into controlled changes.
• Maintain clear models, revisions, and build notes so the next person can move faster.

Qualifications and Experience

• About 0–5 years of hands-on experience after your degree. Internships, thesis projects, Focus projects, and paid project work count. This is an early-career project-staff role.
• A background in mechanical engineering, mechatronics, robotics, or equivalent practical engineering experience.
• Evidence of taking hardware from concept to a tested object others can build or maintain, including CAD judgement, materials, fits, and manufacturing choices.
• Hands-on work is required: you build, assemble, debug, and test physical hardware yourself, including prototypes on the bench and outdoors, failure diagnosis, and iteration from measurements.
• Enough fluency with electronics packaging and software-facing constraints to collaborate without waiting for perfect handoffs.
• Appetite for outdoor and on-water testing, including field days at Lake Zürich and partner sites.
• An independent working style and documentation habits that help a small team scale.

We care more about finished hardware and sound judgment than about a matching keyword list. Experience with sealed or outdoor equipment, small batches, robotics mechanisms, or light electronics is welcome if you have it.

Growth and Team Environment

You start with mechanical ownership. Over the project, the work naturally reaches into electromechanical integration, design-for-reliability, supplier management, fleet maintenance, and campaign logistics. Control and electronics colleagues own their layers, but you learn enough of theirs to design for the whole robot. Growth here means broader robotics craft and ownership inside a fixed-term project. There may separately be an opportunity to join a planned spin-off early if that is a mutual fit after or alongside project delivery.

You will work closely with established entrepreneurs, world-class scientists, and engineers who are artists. They are people who have built a billion-dollar company, sent hardware to the International Space Station, and created live performance-art installations at the Venice Biennale.

Compensation is competitive for a funded project role and depends on experience. The position is 100%, IDSC - Research D'Andrea, Fixed-term project staff (~18 months).