Robotics Engineer

Robotics Engineer (Mechanical)

Company: TAR
Location: San Francisco, CA (in office 5 days per week, with field work in austere desert conditions)
Compensation: $150,000 - $250,000 + competitive equity
Employment Type: Full-time
Visa Sponsorship: Visa transfers (OPT, H-1B transfer)

About TAR

TAR is building the world's first off-grid power plant for data centers, powered by renewables. Connecting a new data center to the grid takes 3-5 years; TAR removes that bottleneck by manufacturing, deploying and operating off-grid energy assets, vertically integrating everything from racking and power electronics to dispatch algorithms and on-site construction.

TAR has raised $120M through its Series A.

The Role

TAR is hiring a Robotics Engineer (Mechanical, 7-10+ years) to own the mechanical architecture of an autonomous field robot that will change how utility-scale solar is built. You will join a small, high-agency team on a ground-up hardware program with founding-level ownership, taking the machine from concept to prototype to production fleet by designing, building, breaking and rebuilding it in the field.

What You Will Do

• Own the full mechanical architecture: chassis, mast, tool head, rebar handling, feed system, drivetrain and locomotion for rough desert terrain.
• Design, prototype and iterate rapidly, machining parts, working with fab shops and testing hardware in the dirt.
• Specify and integrate actuators, sensors and power distribution with the electrical/mechatronics engineer.
• Perform structural and dynamic analysis, including reaction loads, vibration, fatigue and tip-over stability.
• Take the design toward a small production fleet with a focus on DFM, reliability and field serviceability.

What You Bring

• 7-10+ years of mechanical engineering on robotics or heavy mobile machinery
• End-to-end ownership of a machine from concept to production
• Hands-on prototyping and fabrication experience
• Structural and dynamic analysis skills (FEA)
• Comfort working in the field in austere conditions
• Ability to work in the San Francisco office 5 days a week

Tech Stack

SolidWorks, CAD, FEA, GD&T, hydraulics, electric actuators, motor sizing and selection, rapid prototyping, DFM

REVENUE: 17% of first-year salary. Est. fee per hire $26K-$43K; 5 seat(s) = up to $170K if all filled.

TARGET COMPANIES (suggested): Tesla, SpaceX, Built Robotics, Terabase Energy, Caterpillar, John Deere.

BEST-FIT CANDIDATE: 7-10+ yrs; ME robotics/heavy machinery; concept-to-production ownership; hands-on prototyping; visa: transfers only; location: SF + field.