Engineering Technician

Job Title: Engineering Technician

Job Description

The Engineering Technician will take ownership of prototype mechanical assembly and wire harness build-up on bots, subassemblies, and test assets from start to finish. This role requires working from drawings, BOMs, or verbal direction, often with evolving designs, ambiguity, and first-article quality issues. The technician will perform routine maintenance, repair, and rework on bots for in-house testing system and field-returned subassemblies, troubleshooting common electro-mechanical failures and escalating when necessary. Additionally, the technician will surface actionable build feedback to Design Engineering through a structured ticketing system, use machine and shop tools to cut, modify, and rework mechanical parts, and support validation and bring-up procedures on bot hardware under engineer direction.

Responsibilities

• Own prototype mechanical assembly and wire harness build-up on bots, subassemblies, and test assets from start to finish.
• Perform routine maintenance, repair, and rework on bots for in-house testing systems and field-returned subassemblies.
• Troubleshoot common electro-mechanical failures and escalate issues that exceed scope.
• Surface actionable build feedback to Design Engineering through a structured ticketing system.
• Use machine and shop tools to cut, modify, and rework mechanical parts as required.
• Support validation and bring-up procedures on bot hardware under engineer direction.
• Contribute to a safe, clean, organized, and well-equipped lab and shop environment.
• Support onboarding of future team members as the team scales.

Essential Skills

• Proven experience with electro-mechanical hardware in prototype or fast-iterative environments.
• Comfortable with mechanical assembly, fastener/torque selection, and shop tool use.
• Ability to read and navigate drawings and 3D models, interpret metric/imperial tolerances, and identify revision deltas.
• Solid harnessing fundamentals: wire soldering, connector crimping, cable management, and reading electrical schematics.
• Ability to thrive on changing priorities and recover quickly from blocked builds.
• Clear communication and constructive dissent, proactive updates, and precise questioning.
• Comfortable in an industrial environment, consistently following PPE and shop safety practices.
• Ability to operate independently on routine work using standard procedures and know when to escalate.
• Genuine excitement about robotics and the build/break/fix/prototype cycle, with a desire to grow into more responsibility.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience with PCB soldering and board rework.
• Comfort with terminal/SSH and command-line tools.
• Experience operating manual mills, lathes, or other machine tools (Bridgeport experience a plus).
• Onshape familiarity or comparable 3D CAD experience.
• Exposure to PLM/ERP systems (Arena, NetSuite), ticketing and project management tools (Linear, JIRA), and dashboarding tools (Grafana).

Work Environment

This role operates in an industrial environment working on heavy equipment. The technician will consistently follow PPE and shop safety practices. The lab and shop environment is safe, clean, organized, and well-equipped, fostering a collaborative and innovative atmosphere.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of South San Francisco, CA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $35.00 - $55.00/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: Medical, dental & vision Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital 401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) Short and long-term disability Health Spending Account (HSA) Transportation benefits Employee Assistance Program Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of South San Francisco, CA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Nov 13, 2026.

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in South San Francisco,CA.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.