---
title: 'Founding Mechanical Engineer at stratarobot.com'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/founding-mechanical-engineer-stratarobot-com-sunnyvale-cxzb53j39wbw'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-13'
---

# Founding Mechanical Engineer at stratarobot.com

- **Company:** stratarobot.com
- **Location:** Sunnyvale, CA
- **Compensation:** $120k–$200k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-29
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-13
- **Apply:** https://jobs.gem.com/stratarobot-com/am9icG9zdDpG7fBImS2k0woaNtzYjwG2

## Job description

Company Description Heavy infrastructure cannot be built fast enough to fulfill the promises of American reindustrialization. With labor availability tightening and the workforce aging, construction faces a multi-trillion-dollar execution gap over the next decade. Backed by Founders Fund and others, the team is developing robots for outdoor, high-payload job site work with a focus on immediate deployment and autonomy that delivers value immediately. We’re partnering with the largest heavy construction firms to put robots on sites immediately, building hardware, data, and commercial moats to bring end-to-end autonomy to construction.

We are looking for a Founding Mechanical Engineer specializing in design, test, and deployment to build out Strata’s v1 robot, helping to transform prototypes into reliable, scalable hardware systems for manufacturing and field deployment.

## Key Responsibilities

- Own subsystems end-to-end — from concept, sizing, and analysis through drawings, vendor sourcing, build, test, and field deployment — working closely with the CTO, and founding electromechanical team.
- Define and satisfy mechanical requirements for a robot that operates in rugged, dirty, hazardous environments and carries multi-ton loads.
- Perform first-principles hand calculations and finite element analysis to size structures, mechanisms, and hydraulic components (cylinders, valves, pumps) under real-world loading.
- Run motion studies, interference/clearance checks, load path analysis, and tolerance stack-ups to validate design intent before parts are cut.
- Apply design-for-manufacturing and design-for-assembly principles, and stay hands-on through first builds to catch and fix issues early.
- Partner with external vendors and manufacturers to source parts, manage quotes and purchase orders, and build out early supply chain relationships.
- Create manufacturing, welding, and assembly drawings using GD&T per ASME Y14.5.
- Develop and execute hardware test plans spanning functional, environmental, and qualification testing.
- Define hardware success criteria with customers and support the robot through pilot deployment in the field.

## Basic Qualifications

- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
- 3+ years designing, building, and testing complex hardware systems.

## Preferred Skills and Experience

- Experience with rugged, high-payload hardware — heavy equipment, off-road vehicles, aerospace structures, or industrial machinery.
- Hands-on experience with hydraulic or fluid power systems (cylinders, valves, pumps, manifolds).
- Proficiency in CAD and GD&T; experience with Siemens NX preferred.
- Strong grounding in hand calculations and FEA, with the judgment to know when each is warranted.
- Personal experience physically manufacturing hardware (machining, fabrication, welding, soldering, assembly, etc.).
- Track record of writing and executing system test plans efficiently within fast-paced development timelines.
- Comfort working in a fast-paced, ambiguous startup environment with high ownership and fast iteration.

## About stratarobot.com

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Strata Robotics is building an autonomous robotics platform for outdoor construction environments and heavy payloads, designed to address labor shortages and the execution gap in infrastructure development.
- **Entity Type**: Private (early-stage, funding not publicly disclosed)
- **Headquarters**: Sunnyvale, California, USA
- **Founded**: Not publicly available (recent startup, likely 2024–2025)
- **Founders**: Eric Zhou (CEO and Founder), Alex Mason (CTO and Co-founder)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Construction robotics / autonomous heavy equipment
- Target customers: Large heavy construction firms, infrastructure and energy operators (B2B, enterprise)
- Mission: To bring end-to-end autonomy to construction, enabling faster and safer infrastructure development despite a shrinking workforce.

## Products & Services
- **Strata Robotics Platform**: An integrated system of rugged mobility robots, fleet intelligence software, and foundation model integration. The platform is designed for outdoor job sites, handling heavy payloads (multi-ton) with autonomous planning and real-time oversight. The current focus is a V1 material handling robot.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric**: Total funding not disclosed; headcount of ~3 employees on LinkedIn (with 50% monthly growth)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Partnering with "the largest heavy construction firms" (names not specified); talent sourced from MIT LIDS and SpaceX
- **Growth Signals**: Early-stage but actively hiring for founding roles (Autonomy Engineer, Field Deployment Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Head of Business Development). Moving from development to active job site pilots with EPC partners.

## Competitive Advantages
- Purpose-built for outdoor, unstructured environments (not humanoids or indoor robots)
- Heavy payload capacity (multi-ton) for real construction tasks
- Immediate deployment focus – partnering with firms to put robots on sites now, building data and commercial moats
- Hardware, data, and systems designed for end-to-end autonomy, not just single-task robots

## Strategic Focus
- Iterating from V1 material handling robot toward full autonomy across construction, infrastructure, and energy operations
- Deepening partnerships with heavy construction firms to scale real-world deployments
- Building a foundation model layer trained on real job site data to accelerate learning and adaptability

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: 0→1 environment with direct influence on robot architecture and field deployment. Engineers own subsystems end-to-end (from hand calcs to vendor sourcing to test).
- **Work Policy**: Hybrid or in-office based in Sunnyvale, CA (roles listed as "In-Office" or "Hybrid").
- **Notable Perks**: Work directly with founding team; front-row seat to deploying robotics on real job sites; hands-on with heavy equipment, hydraulics, and outdoor testing.
- **Engineering Culture**: First-principles design, real-world survival testing, and a focus on practical, scalable hardware over hype.

## Sources
1. [stratarobot.com](https://www.stratarobot.com/)
2. [stratarobot.com/careers](https://www.stratarobot.com/careers)
3. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/strata-robotics)
4. [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/strata-robotics)
5. [jobs.gem.com](https://jobs.gem.com/stratarobot-com)

## Other roles at stratarobot.com

- [Mechanical Engineer Intern - Mechanism and Structures Design (Fall 2026)](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-intern-mechanism-and-structures-design-fall-2026-fhw8ctyx24hz) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [Founding Autonomy Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-autonomy-engineer-stratarobot-com-sunnyvale-mnrxq2mz96cm) — Sunnyvale, CA
- [Founding Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-mechanical-engineer-voltairlabs-com-san-francisco-anevcwj19f9e) — San Francisco, CA