Mechanical Engineer, Soft Goods Design

Mechanical Engineer, Soft Goods Design

Location: San Francisco, CA Employment type: Onsite – requires in‑person presence 4 days a week.

Team: Our Robotics team focuses on general‑purpose robotics and AGI‑level intelligence. We integrate hardware and software across the model stack, focusing on diverse robotic form factors. We seek to blend high‑level AI capabilities with physical constraints to improve people’s lives.

Role Overview: We are seeking a Mechanical Engineer to lead engineering, characterization, and productionization of flexible and compliant components in robotic platforms. Partner closely with cross‑functional teams to translate material concepts into engineered subsystems that meet functional, durability, and manufacturing requirements. Focus on how soft materials behave in dynamic mechanical systems – fatigue, creep, hysteresis, wear, environmental degradation – and design assemblies that perform consistently  materials such as elastomers, foams, TPUs, engineered fabrics, knitted/woven textiles, cables, etc.,

integrating them with rigid hardware, sensors, actuators using bonding, molding, lamination, sewn assemblies.

In this role, you will

• Design and integrate compliant or flexible materials into mechanical subsystems and rigid hardware interfaces.
• Leverage FEA tools to characterize material behavior under operational loads, including tension, compression, abrasion, fatigue, and environmental exposure.
• Develop test methods and validation protocols to evaluate durability, performance, and failure modes of soft components.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to transition early prototypes into manufacturable designs.
• Source and evaluate materials in collaboration with supply chain partners and specialty fabricators.
• Work with contract manufacturers on fabrication methods such as bonding, lamination, molding, overmolding, cut‑and‑sew, and composite layups.
• Analyze system‑level tradeoffs between compliance, durability, manufacturability, and integration constraints.
• Document material specifications, test data, and mechanical performance to support design iteration and production readiness.
• Investigate field failures and iterate designs based on observed wear patterns and performance degradation.

You might thrive in this role if you

• Understand mechanical tradeoffs in elastomers, foams, textiles, and flexible composites.
• Enjoy working across the full lifecycle from early prototyping through production.
• Can develop test fixtures or experiments to characterize material or assembly behavior.
• Are comfortable collaborating with both design and manufacturing partners.
• Are detail‑oriented and rigorous about documentation and repeatability.

Preferred qualifications

• Degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent.
• Experience with A‑surface and cosmetic component development.
• Experience integrating soft or compliant components into robotic, wearable, medical, automotive, or industrial hardware systems.
• Familiarity with environmental or durability testing (abrasion, ingress, cyclic loading, UV, temperature).
• Experience working with contract manufacturers or specialty fabricators.
• Familiarity with material characterization methods for flexible materials.
• Experience transitioning flexible‑material prototypes into production designs.

Compensation

$266,000 – $295,000 + equity

Equal Opportunity Employer

OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristic.