--- title: 'Manufacturing Mechanical Engineer at Sesame' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-mechanical-engineer-sesame-san-francisco-w823rcvz6t4s' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-11-07' --- # Manufacturing Mechanical Engineer at Sesame - **Company:** Sesame - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Compensation:** $175k–$280k - **Employment:** full-time - **Posted:** 2026-07-02 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-07 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/sesame/5f286f21-69af-4fd2-b775-bde96cca5c3e ## Job description ## About Sesame Sesame believes in a future where computers are lifelike - with the ability to see, hear, and collaborate with us in ways that feel natural and human. With this vision, we're designing a new kind of computer, focused on making voice agents part of our daily lives. Our team brings together founders from Oculus and Ubiquity6, alongside proven leaders from Meta, Google, and Apple, with deep expertise spanning hardware and software. Join us in shaping a future where computers truly come alive. ## About the Role As a Manufacturing Mechanical Engineer at Sesame, you'll own the mechanical process and fixturing that turns our hardware designs into repeatable, high-yield builds. You'll work directly with our contract manufacturers and tooling partners in Asia — defining assembly processes, specifying and reviewing fixtures, running DOEs, and driving failure analysis when builds don't behave. This is a hands-on role for someone who may spend up to 90% of your day in MCAD. You'll spend your time in CAD defining fixtures and process tooling, on the floor validating them, and in the data understanding why a station is losing yield. You'll partner closely with Product Design, Test Engineering and Quality as we take products from EVT through mass production. Responsibilities: - Design and develop assembly fixtures, jigs, and manufacturing tooling using 3D CAD and be comfortable designing assembly fixtures and process tooling yourself. - Serve as the primary point of contact for fabrication partners in Southeast Asia, and other international partners. - Procure, assemble, validate, maintain, and improve fixtures, jigs, and related equipment. - Troubleshoot manufacturing tooling issues to improve quality, yield, and throughput. - Manage external partners developing fixtures, jigs, test systems, and equipment. - Partner with Factory Operations leadership to achieve quality and operational goals. - Collaborate with automation vendors to deploy and optimize robotic manufacturing solutions. - Evaluate and implement new manufacturing technologies, equipment, and processes. - Support NPI and process development in collaboration with the U.S. engineering team. - Travel ~20% to suppliers and manufacturing partners to ensure successful execution. Required Qualifications: - 7+ years in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, tooling, or related fields. - Have taken a consumer hardware product from prototype builds through to volume manufacturing - Have worked directly with contract manufacturers and can hold a technical line with their factory engineers. - Expert CAD skills and experience designing tooling, fixtures, jigs, or automated equipment - Strong understanding of materials (plastics, metals, adhesives) and manufacturing processes, including machining, injection molding, stamping, fabrication, and assembly. - Proven problem-solving ability with experience improving processes, quality, and yield. - Comfortable working with suppliers, fabrication partners, and engineering teams. - Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent practical experience. Preferred Qualifications: - Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent experience. - 10+ years of experience in consumer electronics, precision manufacturing, or a related industry. - Experience bringing consumer electronic products from development through production. - Experience shipping wearable products with demanding industrial design, cosmetic, and quality requirements. Sesame is committed to a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered. We welcome all qualified applicants, embracing diversity in race, gender, identity, orientation, ability, and more. We provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. Contact careers@sesame.com for assistance. Full-time Employee Benefits: - 401 (k) max employer match: 3.5% of compensation - 100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental benefits for you and your dependents - Unlimited PTO and sick time - Flexible spending account with employer matching up to $1,650/year (medical FSA) - Guardian Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - Opportunity to share in the company's success with competitive stock options Benefits do not apply to contingent/contract workers. ## About Sesame ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Sesame is building lifelike, conversational AI agents integrated into lightweight eyewear, aiming to bring ambient intelligence to daily life. - **Entity Type**: Private (early-stage, backed by prominent venture firms) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA - **Founded**: 2023 - **Founders**: Brendan Iribe, Ankit Kumar, Ryan Brown, Angela Gayles, Nate Mitchell ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Artificial intelligence / Voice assistants / Consumer electronics - **Target customers**: Consumer (B2C) – individuals seeking hands-free, intelligent personal agents integrated into everyday eyewear - **Mission or purpose statement**: “Bringing the computer to life” – creating a personal companion that understands you, with natural conversation and lightweight, all-day wearable hardware. ## Products & Services - **Sesame Personal Agents**: Software-based conversational AI agents capable of natural dialogue, personality modeling, and multimodal interaction (voice, gesture). Currently in development; initial hardware (eyewear) targeted for 2027. - **Sesame Eyewear**: Lightweight, all-day comfortable glasses with high-quality audio and hands-free agent access. Coming 2027. - **Research Platform**: In-house deep learning research covering speech generation, personality modeling, multimodality, and scaled training infrastructure. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available. Unconfirmed reports suggest a potential fundraising round of ~$200 M (source: Techmeme via LinkedIn snippet). The company has not officially disclosed its valuation. - **Key Metric**: Total employees ~70 (as of mid-2026), with +5.8 % monthly headcount growth. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Backed by a16z, Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital, Matrix Partners, plus a collection of founders and investors. - **Growth Signals**: 55 total employees on BuiltIn (likely older data); 63 active job postings (+14.5 % monthly trend); monthly LinkedIn follower growth of +3.8 % (20,969 followers). Talent sources include Meta, Apple, Google, DeepMind, and Microsoft. ## Competitive Advantages - **Interdisciplinary approach**: Tightly integrated hardware, software, and ML teams (hardware engineers, ML researchers, product designers) working on a unified product vision. - **Founding team pedigree**: Led by Oculus VR veterans (Brendan Iribe, Nate Mitchell) and experienced AI/ML innovators, giving deep expertise in both consumer hardware and conversational AI. - **Research depth**: Active push in speech generation, personality modeling, and multimodality, with scaled GPU infrastructure for training. ## Strategic Focus - **Near-term**: Ship the first generation of personal agent software and finalize the eyewear device for a 2027 launch. Continue advancing foundational ML research. - **Long-term**: Build a new category of ambient, always-available AI companions that replace traditional screen-based interaction. - **Growth areas**: Expanding engineering team rapidly (63 open roles), especially in ML, embedded systems, iOS/Android, supply chain, and hardware. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Small, focused, interdisciplinary team with a clear vision. Emphasis on tight collaboration between research, product, and hardware. Described as “artists, makers, and engineers.” - **Work environment**: In-office for most roles (San Francisco, Bellevue, New York). Roles are listed as “In-Office” (not remote/hybrid). Offices in SF, Bellevue, NY. - **Perks & engineering culture**: Not explicitly detailed, but the company invests heavily in infrastructure (GPU clusters) and research. Strong engineering focus with roles spanning embedded ML, OS architecture, and developer infrastructure. - **Notable**: Opportunities to work on cutting-edge voice AI and physical product design from the ground up. ## Sources 1. [sesame.com](https://www.sesame.com/) – Company overview and product vision 2. [sesame.com/team](https://www.sesame.com/team) – Leadership, investors, team description 3. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/sesame-sesamecom) – Founded year, HQ, employee count, office policy 4. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/sesameai) – Employee count, growth, talent sources, funding rumor 5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/sesame) – Open positions and location details ## Other roles at Sesame - [ML Model Serving Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/ml-model-serving-engineer-sesame-san-francisco-mhgmywb7k1b2) — San Francisco, CA - [Audio Systems Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/audio-systems-engineer-sesame-san-francisco-9s82kaxpfwej) — San Francisco, CA - [Technical Program Manager, Product Design](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-program-manager-product-design-sesame-san-francisco-c39j4ewzmywn) — San Francisco, CA - [Fabrication Shop Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/fabrication-shop-manager-sesame-bellevue-z681vhqvvavf) — Bellevue, WA - [Product Engineering Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/product-engineering-lead-sesame-san-francisco-frrrpwp06s6z) — San Francisco, CA - [Executive Assistant](https://feeny.ai/job/executive-assistant-sesame-new-york-e0mdmkv43s9f) — New York, NY - [Research Scientist](https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-sesame-san-francisco-dn2g1qez13fh) — San Francisco, CA - [Hardware Test Automation Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-test-automation-engineer-sesame-san-francisco-fvyd7w3bj32c) — San Francisco, CA - [NPI Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/npi-engineer-sesame-taipei-ezvdh72dn9yg) — Taipei, Taiwan - [Executive Assistant](https://feeny.ai/job/executive-assistant-sesame-san-francisco-h3w69r7cbk2s) — San Francisco, CA