Senior Mechanical Engineer- Mobile Base

Senior Mechanical Engineer- Mobile Base LocationMountain ViewEmployment TypeFull timeDepartmentHardwareCompensation$175K – $250K • Offers EquityAt Rhoda AI, we’re building the next generation of generalist intelligent robots. We own the full robotics stack from high-performance hardware and robot systems to the infrastructure and state-of-the-art foundation world models that control our robots. Our robots are designed to be generalists capable of operating in complex, real-world environments and handling long-tail edge cases, made possible by our cutting edge research and end-to-end system design. We've raised over $450M and are investing aggressively in model research, infrastructure, hardware development, and manufacturing scale-up to make generalist robotics a reality.We're looking for a Senior Mechanical Engineer to own the mobile base of our humanoid robot platform. The base is the foundation of the entire system — it carries the drivetrain, battery, compute, and power electronics. You'll own the drivetrain architecture from wheels and actuators through brakes, define the battery interface and swap experience, drive the suspension strategy, and design the structural cast base that ties it all together. This is a high-ownership role spanning vendor engagement, precision actuator integration, structural design, and ingress protection for the whole subsystem.What You'll DoOwn the drivetrain architecture for the mobile base, including wheel design and sourcing — evaluating off-the-shelf wheel vendors against a custom wheel development, and driving that decision to closureLead actuator selection and integration for the drivetrain, interfacing directly with motor and gearbox vendors on specifications, customization, qualification, and supplySelect and integrate braking solutions, including the mechanical and electrical interface with driver boards packaged inside the actuatorOwn the mechanical side of the battery interface — supporting the EE team on connector selection, tolerances, and blind-mate strategy, and designing an ergonomic, human-friendly battery pack that's easy to carry, insert, and removeDesign the battery latch and retention mechanism, balancing retention security, tactile feedback, cycle life, and IPX sealing requirementsDetermine the optimal suspension strategy for the base — evaluating architectures against payload, floor conditions, stability, ride quality, and cost — and carry the chosen approach through design and validationOwn packaging of compute and power boards within the base, including thermal architecture: heat sinking, airflow or conduction paths, and validation of thermal performance under real duty cyclesDesign the structural cast base, working with casting vendors on alloy selection, draft, wall thickness, tolerances, machining strategy, and structural validationDefine and execute the ingress protection strategy for the entire base — seals, gaskets, cable pass-throughs, vents, and drainage — and validate against target IP ratingsCreate and maintain CAD models, drawings, tolerance stacks, and BOMs to support design reviews, prototyping, and manufacturing handoffsPlan and execute prototype builds and test campaigns — structural, thermal, ingress, and durability — and lead root cause analysis when issues ariseMentor junior engineers and raise the bar on design practices, documentation, and design review rigor across the teamWhat We're Looking ForBS in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field (MS preferred)5+ years of experience in mechanical design of mobile robots, vehicles, or complex electromechanical productsDemonstrated experience with drivetrain design — wheels, motors, gearboxes, and brakes — including sizing actuators against dynamic requirements and integrating them into tight packagesTrack record of working directly with vendors on custom or semi-custom components: driving specifications, evaluating quotes, and managing qualificationExperience designing battery packs, battery...