Mechanical Engineer - Underwater Robotics
Job Highlights
Fleet Robotics is a green-tech startup developing an underwater robot to inspect and maintain ship hulls. At Fleet, we are looking for an extraordinary mechanical engineer to join our robotics team. Challenges include designing a low-cost, mass-producible robot platform that can withstand water depths, harsh sea-states, and years of deployment with minimal maintenance. The ideal candidate has worked on robots or other complex electromechanical systems, and has experience with constrained designs. As one of the company’s early employees, this role offers the ability to make significant contributions to a novel and meaningful environmental application working with a small, close-knit, and fast-paced team.
Meaningful and Impactful
We are tackling a thousand-year-old problem: the growth of biofouling on ships. Biofouling is the growth of microorganisms, algae, barnacles, and larger ocean organisms on the ship’s hull. As a ship delivers goods around the world, the growth of these organisms significantly increases the drag forces on the hull and in doing so, significantly increases fuel consumption. Ships are the world’s largest consumers of carbon-heavy fuels (called bunker fuels).
Conventionally, the commercial shipping industry handles biofouling in two ways: preventatively, by coating the ship’s hull in a highly toxic paint that discourages growth, and reactively, by stopping operations every 6-months or so to have divers scrape off years of fouling (along with some toxic paint). This is akin to deciding never to brush your teeth because you go to the dentist every five years. There is a better way.
Our small autonomous robots live on the side of a ship’s hull for years, gently removing the earliest stage of biofouling on a regular basis. This early-stage biofouling is easy-to-remove slime. The technical challenge lies in having a robot that can withstand a marine environments, adhere to the ship hull while it is underway, and clean entirely autonomously. By removing slime often and early, we prevent the growth of macrofouling, significantly reduce fuel consumption, and prevent the spread of invasive species from port to port.
Your Role
As one of our mechanical engineers, you will report to the Mechanical Lead and work in a small, highly collaborative team of 2 - 4 others. You will work closely with the electrical, firmware, software, and operations teams to build a tightly integrated robot, making difficult trade-offs between feature sets, reliability, and speed of execution. You’ll have ownership over critical subsystems and be expected to push designs from concept through testing to deployment in the water.
Responsibilities
Design waterproof robot bodies, brushing systems, drive trains, and docking systems that can reliably operate in harsh marine conditions
Test designs using both simulation and real-world prototypes in lab and field environments
Rapidly iterate on mechanical prototypes to improve performance, robustness, and manufacturability
Collaborate with vendors and fabrication partners to source, manufacture, and refine components
Conduct design reviews and work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of mechanical systems
Contribute to system-level problem solving, including failure analysis and field issue resolution
Required Skills
2+ years of relevant experience in mechanical engineering (robotics, marine systems, or similar fields preferred)
Expert CAD skills (e.g., SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or equivalent), with a strong understanding of design for manufacturability and assembly (DFM)
Significant hands-on fabrication experience, knowing how and when to prototype in-house (e.g., CNC, 3D printing) and when to work with external partners
Experience with electromechanical systems, including motor selection, drivetrain design, seals, and integration of sensors
Comfort designing for harsh and corrosive environments (waterproofing, corrosion resistance, marine materials)
Strong analytical skills and ability to support designs with calculations, FEA, and testing
Desired / Bonus Skills
Experience with underwater or marine robotics
Knowledge of fluid dynamics or hydrodynamic design principles
Computation fluid dynamics (CFD) capabilities
Experience taking products from prototype to low-volume or pilot production
About Fleet Robotics
Fleet Robotics grew out of the Harvard Microrobotics lab, incubated by Material Impact and Harvard University. We have a core team of roboticists who have designed robots for use in underwater inspection and navigation, and who were the world’s first to deploy tracking tags to sperm whales with autonomous drones. We are a passionate team that cares deeply about solving significant environmental and ocean-based problems with cutting-edge robotics.
Everyone’s background is different. We are committed to fostering an environment with diverse experiences, ideas, and backgrounds. Diversity includes not only race and gender identity, but also sexual orientation, religion, and disability status. We are deliberate and self-reflective about the kind of team culture that we are building, seeking engineers who are not only strong in their own aptitudes but who care deeply about supporting each other's growth. If you are excited by the ability to develop novel robots and solve challenges, then we encourage you to apply.