Mechatronics Engineer

Background on Pike Robotics

Pike Robotics is a Houston-based, post-revenue startup building Wall-Eye, the first wall-crawling robot engineered to inspect fixed equipment in hazardous, flammable, and confined spaces. Our first use case is above-ground storage tank inspection—work that today requires costly shutdowns, is dangerous to perform, and often produces inaccurate results. Wall-Eye enables zero-incident, in-service inspection, reducing cost to asset owners by up to 80%.

Founded in 2022 from a collaborative research project between Phillips 66 and Texas Robotics Labs, Pike completed its MVP in 2023. The company has completed over 35 tank inspections for major energy and chemical companies with many more scheduled for this year. Pike has also won awards including 1st place Chevron Facilities of the Future, Top 4 Rose Rock Bridge showcase, 5th place Texas A&M New Ventures, and 8th place Rice Business Plan Competition. Pike is supported by the National Science Foundation, Deepstar Technology Consortium, University of Texas at Austin, Rose Rock Bridge, Venture Capitalists, and others, working with 15 customers and partners in the Oil & Gas and Chemical industries.

Why this Work Matters

Our robots keep technicians out of explosive environments and give operators continuous, high-quality data to make better maintenance decisions. Your work will directly improve safety and emissions outcomes for the process industries, while reducing costs.

Type of Role

Commitment: Full-time (40–50 hours/week depending on deadlines)

Location: In-person in midtown Houston with intermittent travel to customer sites

Start Date: Summer 2026

Work Environment & Physical Requirements:

• Comfortable working in industrial environments while wearing PPE (safety glasses, hard hat, gloves, FR clothing when required)
• Able to lift/carry robot components, tools, and equipment up to 50 lbs
• Able to climb stairs at customer sites
• Willing to complete required site safety training and drug/alcohol testing; follow all customer and Pike safety procedures

Description of Role

As a Mechatronics/Robotics Engineer at Pike Robotics, you will own the design and integration of the mechanical, electrical, and software systems that make our inspection robots reliable in real industrial environments—high heat, corrosive exposure, sludge, and flammable vapors. Your work spans the full product lifecycle: concept → analysis/simulation → prototype → validation → production readiness → field deployment, with a constant focus on robustness, serviceability, and manufacturability.

You’ll work closely with the cofounders to define requirements, weigh trade-offs, and turn functional goals into field-ready systems. This includes mechanical foundations (CAD, assemblies, drawings, tolerances, materials), electromechanical subsystems (actuation, sensing, power, harnessing, networking), and ROS-based software that runs on real robots in refineries and plants—not just in simulation. You’ll also help advance the current Wall-Eye platform while contributing to requirements for the next-generation robot.

Responsibilities:

• Own electromechanical subsystem development end-to-end from concept through field deployment - requirements, trade studies, design reviews, prototyping, validation, and production release.
• Design and release production-ready mechanical assemblies in Onshape (or equivalent), including drawings, BOMs, tolerance/GD&T strategy, and DFMA/serviceability for harsh industrial environments.
• Architect and integrate electrical systems for the robot: power distribution and protection, grounding/shielding approach, connectorization, harnessing, and enclosure/electronics packaging for reliability and maintainability.
• Select, source, and qualify COTS components (motors/actuators, controllers, sensors, compute, radios, connectors), including vendor evaluation, lead-time risk management, and lifecycle/second-source planning.
• Build, wire, and iterate prototypes (including custom cables/connectors), and tune motion/actuation (e.g., PID/control-loop tuning) while diagnosing issues such as backlash, compliance, thermal limits, EMI/noise, and intermittent connections.
• Plan and execute lab field tests with clear pass/fail criteria; create fixtures/test stands; convert test results into design changes and updated requirements/specifications.
• Drive documentation and production readiness: assembly/test procedures, calibration checklists, ECO/revision discipline, design justification, and clean design history for handoff to fabrication and repeatable builds.
• Lead technical execution in a startup environment by decomposing ambiguous problems, prioritizing highest-leverage work, mentoring junior teammates/contractors, and representing engineering in customer-facing field work and certification conversations (UL/ATEX as applicable).

Company Culture

We’re driven by a shared mission—to make industrial inspection safer, smarter, and more sustainable through advanced robotics. Every team member can grow into a well-rounded engineer with real autonomy earned through impact. We value initiative, adaptability, and open discussion. Pike is a place for builders who enjoy solving hard problems. As we are not a large company, we only accept tough and resilient people, who take intense pride in the quality of their work. If you are not a team player and unwilling to make sacrifices, work long hours, or take on tasks that are sometimes outside your job description, you will not last in this role.

Experience & Qualification Questionnaire (Yes/No)

Please answer the questions in the LinkedIn application form. The questions fall within the following six categories:

A) General Experience and Qualifications

B) Process, Communication, and Collaboration

C) Mechanical Engineering (Design, Analysis, and Manufacturing)

D) Mechatronic & Electrical Engineering

E) Robotics Engineering & Software Development

Compensation

Salary: $100k–$130k (dependent on % of Yes answers in questionnaire and equity requested)

Equity: Stock options targeting 0.5%–1.5% fully diluted ownership at grant, 4-year vesting with 1-year cliff. Unlike most startups, your equity will have a real payout event in the next 4 to 5 years.

Benefits: 2 weeks PTO; healthcare; relocation travel expense reimbursement; weekend lunch meals

Application

Complete LinkedIn application process and wait to be contacted by hiring manager. Ensure resume has link to your portfolio or Github. DO NOT email company or send connection request to Founders.

Pike Robotics is an equal opportunity employer.