Senior Mechanical Engineer- Robot Head and Neck

At Rhoda AI, we’re building the next generation of generalist intelligent robots. We own the full robotics stack from high-performance hardware and robot systems to the infrastructure and state-of-the-art foundation world models that control our robots. Our robots are designed to be generalists capable of operating in complex, real-world environments and handling long-tail edge cases, made possible by our cutting edge research and end-to-end system design. We've raised over $450M and are investing aggressively in model research, infrastructure, hardware development, and manufacturing scale-up to make generalist robotics a reality.

We're looking for a Senior Mechanical Engineer to own the design of the head for our humanoid robot platform. The head is one of the most constrained and cross-functional subsystems on the robot — it packages cameras, speakers, and sensors into a tight envelope that must satisfy industrial design intent, thermal and structural requirements, and the dynamic demands of an actuated neck. You'll drive architecture-level decisions on actuation, mass properties, and stabilization while working shoulder-to-shoulder with perception, industrial design, and cladding teams. This is a high-ownership role where your decisions define what our robot sees, hears, and looks like.

What You'll Do

• Own the mechanical architecture and packaging of the robot head, including cameras, speakers, microphones, and supporting electronics, within a tightly constrained envelope

• Drive compatibility between the internal packaging and the industrial design surfaces, negotiating trade-offs between ID intent, sensor fields of view, thermal performance, and serviceability

• Lead actuation selection and packaging for the neck — evaluating motor, gearbox, and transmission options against torque, bandwidth, backdrivability, acoustic, and packaging requirements

• Manage the mass properties of the head, minimizing and positioning the center of gravity to reduce neck actuator loads and enable responsive, stable head motion

• Work closely with the cladding team to define interfaces, attachment schemes, tolerances, and assembly sequences between the head structure and exterior cladding

• Drive finalization of sensor requirements with perception and systems teams — locking placement, alignment, thermal, and mounting specifications for cameras and other head-mounted sensors

• Create and maintain CAD models, drawings, tolerance stacks, and BOMs to support design reviews, prototyping, and manufacturing handoffs

• Plan and execute prototype builds and test campaigns — structural, thermal, acoustic, and dynamic — and lead root cause analysis when issues arise

• Mentor junior engineers and raise the bar on design practices, documentation, and design review rigor across the team

What We're Looking For

• BS in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field (MS preferred)

• 5+ years of experience in mechanical design of complex electromechanical products — robotics, consumer electronics, camera systems, or similar

• Demonstrated experience packaging sensors, cameras, or dense electronics in tightly constrained, thermally challenging envelopes

• Experience selecting and integrating actuators — motors, gearboxes, and transmissions — including sizing against dynamic requirements

• Strong command of mass properties analysis, structural design, and tolerance analysis for precision assemblies

• Expert-level proficiency with CAD software (Catia, SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Onshape, or similar) for complex part and assembly design

• Deep familiarity with manufacturing processes — machining, injection molding, die casting, sheet metal, 3D printing — and design-for-manufacture principles

• Comfort working hands-on with hardware: building prototypes, running tests, and troubleshooting physical systems

• Strong communication skills and the ability to drive requirements to closure across mechanical, electrical, software, and design disciplines

Nice to Have (But Not Required)

• Experience designing actuated camera platforms, gimbals, or vision systems with image stabilization requirements

• Experience with humanoid robots, animatronics, or other systems where expressive motion and aesthetics matter alongside function

• Background in acoustic design — speaker enclosures, microphone placement, or noise/vibration mitigation

• Familiarity with thermal design and simulation for sealed or semi-sealed electronics enclosures

• Experience defining sensor requirements alongside perception or computer vision teams

• Working knowledge of GD&T (ASME Y14.5) applied to optical and precision mechanical assemblies

• Experience taking a subsystem from concept through DVT/PVT into production

Why This Role

• Own an entire subsystem — the head is yours, from architecture and actuation through sensor packaging and cladding integration, on a robot people will interact with face-to-face

• Work at the intersection of perception, industrial design, and dynamics — few mechanical roles combine optical packaging, actuation design, and aesthetic collaboration in one subsystem

• Join at a foundational moment and make architecture-level decisions that define the physical identity of a next-generation humanoid robot