The posting
Your mission
Robots couldn't handle soft materials. We fixed that.
Now we're scaling it into reality, and we need the sharpest engineering minds: the ones who turn breakthrough ideas into machines that hold up.
At sewts, we build the intelligence that lets robots manipulate deformable materials — textiles, towels, cables — with human-like precision. Our systems are already deployed in production across Europe and expanding into the US.
We are building a foundational technology stack called sewts.JUPITER. JUPITER uses genAI to realistically simulate the behavior of deformable and soft objects, creating the computer vision models and grasping strategies behind our machines. Based on our physical AI, for the first time ever, robots can handle soft and deformable materials. With over €10M in funding, we will bring automation into untapped industries: cloth manufacturing, textiles handling, recycling, and e-commerce.
This is where AI leaves the screen and enters the physical world.
And in the physical world, nothing forgives you.
About the Role
The software gives our robots a brain. You give them a body that survives.
As our Robot Bodybuilder (Mechanical Engineer), you design the machine cells and mechanics behind the hardest task in robotics: handling soft, deformable materials. You take ideas from first sketch to systems running in production — robot cells, grippers, and mechanisms that hold up in demanding industrial environments, on products like sewts.VELUM and sewts.ORDO.
You work shoulder to shoulder with the software / application teams who give our robots human-like perception. Your job: make sure the physical side never lets the intelligence down. What you build becomes the backbone of robots pushing automation into spaces it has never reached before.
Your profile
What You'll Build
You'll design and build industrial robot cells and their key components, from early concept through production-ready systems, with a strong focus on grippers and end-effectors (rigid, soft, vacuum, pneumatic) for handling complex and deformable materials.
- Design and develop mechanical and electromechanical components for robotic systems, with a strong focus on gripper and end-effector design (rigid, soft, vacuum, and/or pneumatic grippers) for complex scenarios of deformable materials.
- Plan and execute accelerated life and durability tests to validate design hypotheses under representative and worst-case operating conditions.
- Design structured test experiments (DOE-style thinking) to isolate failure modes, validate assumptions, and generate actionable engineering data.
- Build and test physical prototypes using in-house manufacturing methods, including 3D printing (FDM/SLA), silicone molding/casting, and machining.
- Select appropriate manufacturing processes and materials based on functional requirements, cost, and production volume.
- Collaborate with electrical, controls, and robotics engineers to integrate mechanical designs with actuators, sensors, and Fanuc (or similar) robot arms.
- Create standards-compliant engineering drawings (GD&T, tolerancing, weld/assembly callouts) and own CAD models, BOMs, and version control across our Engineering Repositories.
What You'll Bring
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
- Demonstrated experience designing grippers or robotic end-effectors.
- Solid understanding of electromechanical systems — actuators, sensors, motors, pneumatics, and their mechanical integration.
- Ability to independently design experiments to test and validate engineering hypotheses (structured, data-driven approach).
- Hands-on experience with multiple manufacturing technologies: 3D printing, silicone molding/casting, sheet metal, machining, etc.
- Strong proficiency with 3D CAD software , PLM system and Engineering revision control (Autodesk Inventor , Fusion and Vault).
- Strong command of engineering drawing standards (GD&T, ISO/ASME tolerancing) and best practices for technical documentation.
- Comfortable working in a fast-moving, iterative product development environment with frequent prototyping cycles.
Please note: you don't need to tick every box. We're looking for motivated people excited to grow into the role.
Why us?
Why this Role
- Direct, visible impact: every system you design ends up running live, keeping robots working reliably in the field.
- You build technology that has never existed before: mechanical systems for physical AI.
- Real responsibility from day one: you own your designs end-to-end, from first sketch to production line.
- A team that respectscraft.The engineers who design and build systems that actually hold up are never an afterthought here.
- Grow with us as we scale across Europe: your designs are at the core of that expansion.
- Munich-based, with the chance to see your work in action at customer sites across Europe.
Setup & Benefits
- Competitive salary+ VSOPs participation.
- Learning budget + fast growth environment.
- Deutschlandticket + EGYM Wellpass.
- Speciality coffee at the office.
- Flexible working setup.
- Regular team events, high trust, low bureaucracy.
Reality Check Deformable materials are unpredictable, parts wear down under real loads, and sometimes the fix isn't in any manual; it's you, hands-on, figuring it out on the spot. If you need a clean workshop and a fully predictable schedule, this probably isn't the right fit. If you get energy from building things that actually hold up in the real world, and love being the one who makes it work: welcome to sewts.
Your Talent Partner
We want to ensure a smooth recruitment process for you. If you have questions or would like to know more about this role, your Talent Partner, Fatima, is there to support you:
Email: [email protected] Phone: +49 1577 74 44 352
