Mechanical Design Engineer - Sensor Cleaning

Zoox is transforming mobility-as-a-service by developing a fully autonomous, purpose-built fleet designed for AI to drive and humans to enjoy.

As a Mechanical Design Engineer on the Sensor Cleaning team, you will play a critical role in ensuring Zoox vehicles can operate safely and reliably in real-world environments. You will be responsible for developing, integrating, validating, and launching sensor cleaning systems that maintain the performance of cameras, lidars, and other perception sensors across a wide range of weather and contamination conditions. 

you will drive engineering solutions that ensure sensors remain within operational specifications, minimize contamination-related failures, reduce supply chain and manufacturing yield losses, improve vehicle availability, and support scalable deployment of Zoox autonomous vehicles. 

Develop sensor cleaning components and systems to keep sensors free of contaminants. 

Perform packaging studies, tolerance analysis, DFMEA, DFM/DFA, and reliability assessments. 

Design and build mockups, proofs of concept, and functional prototypes

Develop and release CAD models, engineering drawings, and BOMs. 

Support test engineering, sensor performance engineers, and validation teams in test design, failure analysis, and quality management 

Collaborate with manufacturing engineers and quality engineer to ramp production processes and meet build objectives 

Maintain BOMs, documenting and approving build processes, and supporting quality and cost engineering throughout the supply chain of the assemblies

Collaborate with suppliers to develop prototypes, resolve technical issues, and support manufacturing readiness. 

 

Mechanical Engineering or Mechatronic BS + 5 years or MS + 3 years of working experience within the automotive industry. Prior sensor cleaning experience is a bonus. 

Strong mechanical design fundamentals including:

Plastic injection molded components

Sheet metal and machined parts

Tolerance stack-up analysis

Fluid systems and pneumatic systems

Thermal and heating system integration 

Proficiency with 3D CAD tools (CATIA, NX, Creo, or SolidWorks). 

Experience leading cross-functional teams to innovate and drive new ideas and solutions into products.

Experience with DV/PV testing, DFMEA, PFMEA, APQP, and PPAP processes.

Optical sensor/ADAS system experience is a bonus

Prior experience in sensor cleaning is a plus 

Experience in automotive sensors like cameras and LiDAR is a plus

Experience with fluid simulation and CFD tools for liquid or airflow analysis is a plus