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Founding Fabrication Technician

Compensation
$80,000–$120,000/year

Job Description

This is a full-time, in-office role building real robots that operate in messy, real-world road environments. If you love turning half-baked ideas into rugged hardware, thrive in early-stage chaos, and want your work deployed in the field, not stuck in CAD, this role is for you.

Key Responsibilities

  • Build and iterate on early-stage robotic systems designed for unstructured outdoor environments
  • Fabricate custom robot components using CNC machining, welding, 3D printing, and manual machining
  • Work hands-on with metal and plastic fabrication (aluminum, steel, composites, polymers, etc.)
  • Rapidly prototype, assemble, modify, and repair robot hardware in support of aggressive field testing
  • Collaborate closely with EE and CS teams to integrate mechanical systems with electronics, sensors, and compute
  • Own mechanical builds from concept through deployment, including tolerancing, fixturing, and assembly
  • Troubleshoot mechanical failures in the field and redesign for durability, reliability, and serviceability
  • Improve manufacturability and repeatability of designs as systems mature
  • Help define and build out the company’s fabrication processes, tooling, and workshop capabilities
  • Move fast, make tradeoffs, and get hardware working under real constraints of time, cost, and environment

Qualifications

  • Proven experience building robots or complex electromechanical systems at early-stage startups
  • Strong hands-on experience with:
    • CNC machining (mills and/or lathes)
    • Welding (MIG/TIG preferred)
    • 3D printing (FDM/SLA)
    • General metal and plastic fabrication
  • Comfortable reading and working from CAD and engineering drawings
  • Experience assembling systems that integrate motors, actuators, sensors, wiring, and enclosures
  • Experience working cross-functionally with electrical and software engineers
  • Ability to rapidly prototype, test, break, fix, and improve hardware in tight iteration loops
  • Strong intuition for mechanical design tradeoffs: strength, weight, cost, tolerances, and reliability
  • Comfortable operating in a fast-paced startup environment with incomplete information
  • Self-directed, detail-oriented, and biased toward action

Portfolios, photos of past builds, or examples of shipped hardware are highly encouraged.


Interview Process

Recruiting Call

Hiring Manager Interview

Onsite - Final

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Job Details

Location
San Francisco, CA, US
Posted
Mar 24, 2026, 04:27 PM
Listed
Mar 24, 2026, 04:27 PM
Compensation
$80,000 - $120,000 per year

About Pave Robotics

Part of the growing space & AI ecosystem pushing the frontiers of technology.

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Founding Fabrication Technician
Pave Robotics
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