---
title: 'Mechatronics / Power Train Lead at Skip'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/mechatronics-power-train-lead-skip-san-francisco-xhwqnn9yfnk4'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Mechatronics / Power Train Lead at Skip

- **Company:** Skip
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-07-16
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/skip/2da72d03-95cf-4bc6-9e70-f00d685267ec

## Job description

## ABOUT US:

Skip is on a mission to make life joyful through powered movement.

Movement is a powerful way to build physical, mental and social health. Yet it is elusive for 2 billion people due to age, injury, or disability. We are building products that will restore mobility for millions and enable a new frontier of joyful movement experiences. We want to build a future where a grandparent can easily outrun their grandkids and no one is left behind at the trailhead.

Skip is a 25-person early-stage start-up that spun out of Google X in 2023. With deep cross-disciplinary expertise and key partnerships (e.g. with Arc’teryx) we are uniquely positioned to launch the first commercially successful wearable robotic device, the MO/GO, develop a platform to launch future Movewear products and transform millions of lives in the coming years.

We are seeking a highly motivated and adaptable individual who will explore the peaks and valleys of all problems that may come up while building a new generation of wearable robots for everyday life.

We are looking for an engineer who would primarily be responsible for the design, development, testing and validation of our powertrain, including motor control for novel actuators, and complex battery management. The team has just finished an “EVT” build, so we have functional prototypes but they need to be tested, improved and optimised with a whole-system approach.

We are a team of 25 phenomenal senior engineers and product leaders, where everyone contributes directly to product development. As such this will start as an individual contributor role, with leadership for critical systems, and directing work for people contributing to the system (e.g. working closely with our test engineer and gearbox designer).

Some of the specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

- Understand every element of our power train; being the go-to person for troubleshooting
- Guide design and development decisions for future iterations of the product, and future systems; including battery and motor specifications, motor control chip selection and firmware requirements
- Own the testing protocol to validate performance of the mechatronics at volumes and standards relevant to consumer products (and work with our Test Engineer to execute)
- Help us precisely control a range of actuators including off-the-shelf BLDCs, custom PMSM and axial flux motors, cycloid gearboxes, and series elastic actuators, including writing firmware for our motor control chip (currently c2000; but likely to change over time)
- Characterize and model our actuators for open-loop and closed-loop torque control. Create thermal models and evaluate the thermal limits of the actuator.
- Own the process of productising our novel actuation systems as standalone products and components of a broader platform
- Wear prototypes several hours a week to participate in data collection, on-body testing and provide feedback
- Bring joy to the team, participate in embarrassing team events, tolerate KZ’s terrible music

## Basic Qualifications

- 5+ years’ experience working in robotics or mechatronics
- Extensive experience controlling PMSM, including Ti and STM chipsets
- Experience with design for systems at scale, with a focus on testing and validation
- Demonstrable expertise in C/C++ for high performance applications
- Expertise with Linux, command-line tools, Python scripting
- Strong experience developing real-time firmware for multi-sensor systems
- Knowledge of low level hardware and OS internals at a kernel level
- Attention to detail, even in the middle of overly-long lists
- Experience with troubleshooting tools (JTAG, SWD, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers)
- Ability to work at the Skip Bay Area office >3 days/week
- Sense of humour, tolerant of Aussie & Canadian spelling

Bonus Points

- Experience with powered consumer electronics (e.g. drones, robot vacuums)
- Experience in start-up environments and using AI coding tools to leverage your skills for broader impact
- Personal motivation to improve human movement
- Good taste in background music :)

This is a full time hybrid position working at the Skip office in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco.

Skip is an equal opportunity employer. Our hiring decisions are based on need and competence to satisfy said need. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected status.

Any and all offers of employment extended by Skip are conditional on candidates’ ability to provide satisfactory proof of eligibility to maintain full-time employment in the United States.

## About Skip

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Skip develops powered movewear (wearable exoskeleton pants) that supports human movement, making walking, hiking, and daily mobility easier for people experiencing age‑related decline, injury, or disability.
- **Entity Type**: Private (seed‑stage; raised $6 M in total funding)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Kathryn Zealand (CEO & Co‑Founder), Anna Roumiantseva (Co‑Founder & CPO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Wearable robotics / consumer health & wellness / mobility technology
- **Target customers**: B2C (active older adults, hikers, people with knee pain or mobility challenges) – “the missing middle” that is neither fully disabled nor fully able
- **Mission**: “Make life joyful through powered movement” — aiming to restore mobility for millions and enable a future where no one is left behind at the trailhead

## Products & Services
- **[MO/GO™](https://www.skipwithjoy.com/)**: The company’s first movewear product — lightweight, apparel‑integrated exoskeleton “powered pants” that provide assistance on inclines and descents, reducing strain on muscles and joints. Built from learnings in exoskeleton force transfer, AI/ML movement interpretation, comfortable wearable design, and consumer‑tech UX. Released in partnership with Arc’teryx for testing/co‑branding (2024).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric (Funding)**: $6 M total funding — a $3 M Seed Round and a $3 M Grant, both closed in July 2024 ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/skipwithjoy)).  
  *Note: Tracxn lists the company as “unfunded” but is likely outdated or misclassifying grants; the LinkedIn data is more recent.*
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Spun out of **X, The Moonshot Factory** (Google’s moonshot lab). Partnership with **Arc’teryx** for the MO/GO launch. Founding team includes alumni of Google X.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew +62.9 % year‑over‑year to 16 employees (as of mid‑2026). Three open roles posted (Software Engineer, Test; Firmware Engineer; Founding Marketing Lead). Company featured in National Geographic (CEO Kathryn Zealand named a National Geographic 33 honoree). Active in academic research — published a study on hip exoskeleton assistance for people with Parkinson’s disease in *Frontiers in Robotics and AI*.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep tech heritage**: Founders and many team members came from Google X, giving access to years of exoskeleton and force‑transfer research.
- **New product category (“Movewear”)**: First mover in blending robotic exoskeleton technology with stylish, consumer‑friendly wearables — not just medical devices.
- **Strong brand storytelling**: The mission resonates emotionally (“Help a grandparent outrun their grandkids”) and has earned media coverage in NatGeo, CES spotlights, and AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative.
- **Focus on the “missing middle”**: Addresses a large underserved market (billions with age‑related or mild mobility issues) that is ignored by both medical exoskeletons and fitness trackers.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale manufacturing and distribution**: Moving from prototype/limited runs to broader consumer availability for MO/GO.
- **Build a world‑class engineering team**: Actively hiring firmware, test, and marketing leads to expand the 16‑person team.
- **Clinical validation & partnerships**: Continued publication of studies (e.g., Parkinson’s) and collaboration with organizations like the Michael J. Fox Foundation to establish credibility and open healthcare channels.
- **Expand product line**: Use the Movewear platform to create models for different activities and levels of support.

## Why Work Here
- **High‑impact, mission‑driven work**: Engineers directly improve physical mobility for millions of people.
- **Small, high‑density team**: 16 employees with a strong ratio of technical staff (9 in technical roles). Offers the chance to own large areas of the stack.
- **Culture rooted in moonshot thinking**: Spun out of Google X; employees have backgrounds from X, Harvard, Stanford, and top robotics firms.
- **Hybrid/Office presence**: HQ in San Francisco, California. Recent job posts specify location in San Francisco Bay Area, suggesting an on‑site or hybrid expectation.
- **Perks and environment**: Working on a tangible hardware + software product that users wear and love. The team is described as passionate about movement, joy, and inclusion — events like SF Design Week “Build Your Superpowers” highlight a fun, community‑focused culture.

## Sources
1. [Skip Official Website – About](https://www.skipwithjoy.com/aboutus)
2. [Skip Careers Page](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/skip) (via LinkedIn)
3. [Skip LinkedIn Company Profile](https://www.linkedin.com/company/skipwithjoy)
4. [Skip on DayOne.fm](https://dayone.fm/company/skip)
5. [Tracxn Company Profile](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/skip/__d5pUuD-03STihX3ls-azp7_yxK90CKdZqKMe_5V_ybk)

## Other roles at Skip

- [Product Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/product-design-engineer-skip-san-francisco-wz4q1js4r7f0) — San Francisco, CA
- [Infrastructure Security Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/infrastructure-security-engineer-skip-san-francisco-3mj34y9pndec) — San Francisco, CA
- [Hardware Reliability Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-reliability-engineer-skip-san-francisco-f77vrymrgqpp) — San Francisco, CA
- [Robotics Generalist](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-generalist-skip-san-francisco-sbhgas1my2n5) — San Francisco, CA
- [Soft Goods Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/soft-goods-designer-skip-san-francisco-txkrz0fb18r6) — San Francisco, CA
- [Firmware Engineering Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/firmware-engineering-lead-skip-san-francisco-zq25ysz3q2zn) — San Francisco, CA
- [Backend Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/backend-engineer-skip-san-francisco-ss58qjf9g74s) — San Francisco, CA
- [Engineering Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-program-manager-skip-san-francisco-0tzvkvdtzqsn) — San Francisco, CA
- [Software Engineer, Test](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-test-skip-san-francisco-hbhweafhbqbj) — San Francisco, CA
- [Motor Control Firmware Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/motor-control-firmware-engineer-skip-san-francisco-y1ha2rnpa2bq) — San Francisco, CA