Lead Hardware Engineer

About FuturHand Robotics

FuturHand Robotics is a Carnegie Mellon University spin-off focused on developing next-generation dexterous robotic systems that will revolutionize how robots interact with the world. We build on cutting-edge research in dexterous hands and manipulation to solve real-world challenges, developing dexterous bimanual robots that can operate reliably outside the lab.

The Role

We’re not building a humanoid or a stage demo. We’re building the robots that make factory automation actually work. Dexterous, reliable, deployable systems grounded in world-class research from Carnegie Mellon. This role sits at the center of our hardware efforts, where some of the hardest constraints live.

We’re looking for an experienced hardware engineer who has taken a prototype and turned it into a deployed, finished product. You’ll evaluate the readiness of our current hardware systems, identify where we need to improve, and drive the work required to reach deployment-grade reliability. You’ll make decisions about what we build in-house, what we source, what we contract out, and follow through on executing those decisions.

This is a hands-on role in a small, fast-moving team. You’ll be doing real design work (CAD, drawings, DFM reviews), while also owning hardware strategy and supplier relationships.

Your scope will cover core hardware across the system, including electromechanical subsystems, structural hardware, and mechanism design — end effectors, actuation systems, and structural assemblies — as well as the integration decisions that ultimately determine whether the robot performs reliably in real industrial environments.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Get a clear picture of where our hardware stands, identify weak points, and define the roadmap to a reliable, deployable product
• Evaluate and prioritize what we develop in-house versus what we source or contract, and drive those decisions through execution
• Define hardware requirements, manage the full supplier process, and own relationships with contract manufacturers, including DFM, tolerance reviews, and incoming quality
• Drive hardware-side certification and compliance for factory deployment, ensuring it is planned early and executed rigorously

What We’re Looking For

The most important thing is that you’ve closed the gap between prototype and deployed product before. You know what that process actually looks like and you enjoy bringing a proof-of-concept system to something that runs reliably in the field.

Beyond that:

• 5+ years of experience in hardware product development for robotics, automation, or mechatronic systems
• Direct hands-on experience working with contract manufacturers
• Strong DFM instincts built from real decisions that affected cost, assembly, and yield
• Comfortable driving work forward in a fast-moving environment
• Based in or willing to relocate to Pittsburgh, PA

Nice to have:

• Background at a robotics OEM or industrial automation company
• Familiarity with ISO 10218 / ISO/TS 15066 or similar factory safety standards
• Experience with robotics hardware

What We Offer

• Meaningful early-stage equity, competitive salary, and benefits
• Work on one of the hardest and most impactful engineering problems in robotics
• A world-class team and the opportunity to build genuinely novel hardware systems

How to Apply

Email us with your resume and a short note on what you’ve built and where it was deployed. No formal cover letter needed,  just tell us about a hardware gap you’ve closed before.

apply@futurhandrobotics.com