Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

Kai Concepts is a Bay Area team, founded by Don Montague, known for testing the limits of kite propulsion, hydrofoil technology and experimenting with technological advances in water-sport technology. The company has strong backing from industry luminaries. We are a small team of creative problem solvers with backgrounds in engineering, software development, manufacturing, inflatable design, and competitive windsurfing and kitesurfing. We are extremely passionate individuals who get an immense amount of satisfaction out of collaborating to solve some truly unique and challenging problems.

We are searching for a driven individual that is a team player and willing to learn and adapt to our culture. We are a dynamic company solving amazing problems and being flexible is a huge part of our mentality at KAI Concepts. Having a passion for marine environment and/or water-sports is a huge plus and will make your experience at Kai Concepts even more fulfilling.

Job Description

As a senior mechanical design engineer at Kai Concepts, you will be involved with designing, overseeing, organizing, testing, and managing new system designs for our hydrofoiling marine EV systems. Our ideal candidate is an experienced, passionate, and like-minded individual with a sense of adventure who gets a thrill out of solving challenging problems and is eager to develop next-gen marine EV technology.

Responsibilities

Some of what you will be doing:

  • R&D – Take ownership of our next generation vehicle design and help create novel mechatronics systems to solve problems related to foil retraction, tab actuation, rake actuation, and fly-by-wire systems.
  • R&D – Lead/assist with clean-sheet motor and propulsion system design to optimize system efficiency and estimate thermal performance.
  • Work closely with the manufacturing & production team to develop scale production processes.
  • Help take our prototypes into small volume manufacturing by designing parts for injection molding and other higher volume manufacturing processes.
  • Assist with and document project scope, deliverables, goals, risks, blockers, success measures, and estimated resources needed.

Required Skills and Qualifications

  • Experience with designing and resolving manufacturing issues with injection molded parts.
  • Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
  • Capability to solve extremely challenging technical problems twice as fast as your peers.
  • Self-starter with excellent time management skills, high level attention to detail, and an innate curiosity for problem solving.
  • 4+ Years of mechanical design experience using FUSION 360, SOLID WORKS, or similar.
  • 4+ Years of experience working with electro-mechanical control systems.
  • 4+ Years of experience with custom part design, prototyping, and fabrication.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with designing/debugging mechatronics systems, brushless electric motors/controllers, servos, and lithium battery systems.
  • Extensive experience with carbon fiber part modeling, design, and fabrication.
  • Experience with control systems for autonomous electric vehicles.
  • Portfolio of projects that demonstrate your initiative and passion to test technical limits to achieve exceptional results.