Lead Mechanical Engineer

My client is building the next generation of critical-material manufacturing: decentralized, automation- and AI-driven  mini mills  that extract and refine rare earth and precious metals, positioning itself as  the next Nucor and Glencore.  The first mill processes e-waste - riding the tailwind of a 2026 executive order banning e-waste export – with plans to expand into broader urban mining and eventually owned mineral deposits.

The mini-mill model is designed to be roughly 5x faster and 80% cheaper to stand up than centralized competitors.

Pre-seed, backed by Cantos Ventures (a top-ranked early-stage deep-tech fund), with commercial offtake contracts already worth tens of millions of dollars. The founding team combines computer science, machine learning, and robotics backgrounds, and is opening one of the first new domestic critical-materials processing facilities in 20-30 years, in the Bay Area.

One of the first senior hardware hires (informally the  Head of Hardware Engineering ), owning the build-out of the company's robotic systems and the manufacturing systems around them - not just individual components, but how the whole production system comes together and scales.

• Own end-to-end design, build, and integration of our robotic systems, from individual components (e.g., sorters) through full subsystem integration.
• Architect and scale entire production systems - controls, manufacturing systems, and the path from prototype to industrial scale.
• Build out internal engineering processes (design cycles, reviews) as one of the company's first senior hardware hires.
• Manage and grow a small team of hardware engineers.
• Take on operational responsibilities as needed in a flat, fast-moving team.
• Work day-to-day inside our first live processing facility (opening within weeks).

• 5-10+ years of hands-on mechanical/hardware engineering experience at an elite, high-velocity manufacturer - SpaceX, Tesla, Anduril, Relativity Space, or a comparable space/defense/advanced-manufacturing company.
• a track record of taking a physical system from design through build to a working, scaled production line.
• Mechatronics/robotics design and build experience - comfortable across mechanical design, controls, and manufacturing-systems integration.
• Demonstrated career  slope  - fast progression into greater scope, not multiple years stalled in the same role.
• Experience designing/building for a company manufacturing its own hardware at increasing scale (vs. pure R&D/prototype work).
• Bonus points if you have exposure to critical materials, mining, metals, or heavy-industrial manufacturing