WindBorne Systems is supercharging weather models with a unique proprietary data source: a global constellation of next-generation smart weather balloons targeting the most critical atmospheric data. We design, manufacture, and operate our own balloons, using the data they collect to generate otherwise unattainable weather intelligence.

Our mission is to eliminate weather uncertainty, and in the process help humanity adapt to climate change, be that predicting hurricanes or speeding the adoption of renewables. We are building a future in which the planet is instrumented by thousands of our microballoons, eliminating gaps in our understanding of the planet and giving people and businesses the information they need to make critical decisions. The founding team of Stanford engineers was named Forbes 2019 30 under 30 and is backed by top investors including Khosla Ventures.

WindBorne is looking for a Weird Mechanical Engineer. What type of role is that? Well – balloons are an unconventional vehicle and we are looking for an unconventional engineer to help us build them! Many of the problems we encounter are unique to balloon systems, and there aren't standard off-the-shelf solutions to solve them. Mass is extremely tight and temperature ranges exceed most component ratings – many common requirements and constraints simply do not apply in our system, and many uncommon ones do.

This role is for someone who would be bored by designing standard things and likes to push the envelope (the balloon envelope?) by looking for unexpected solutions that work surprisingly well. If you're the type to design mechanical assemblies using PCB stencil origami or find yourself repurposing McMaster catalog items in ways their creators never imagined, you might be our kind of weird. Engineering is 70% advanced online shopping, and the trick is to know when not to overengineer - sometimes the best solution is to buy your way out of it or solve it in software. Fundamentally, this role is about solving mechanical problems, not necessarily providing mechanical solutions.

While you'll be pushing technical boundaries, this role also demands someone ready to roll up their sleeves and grind through the details. You'll work closely with our CTO and R&D engineers to not just design parts, but to design the entire manufacturing process that brings them to life. We believe scaling hardware is one of engineering's greatest challenges - that's why we design and manufacture everything from our balloon envelopes to our actuators and sensors in-house. It's not just about building the machine; it's about building the machine that builds the machine, and we need someone who can hold that entire system in their head while collaborating across the team to make it happen.

Responsibilities

Own various parts of our balloon system, working on/redesigning them to improve their performance and manufacturability
Come up with, design and run various experiments for ideas that might improve our systems
Identify manufacturing issues and design and implement solutions
Interface with technicians to teach new procedures and tools

Skills and Qualifications

Required

Exceptional mechanical (and electro-mechanical) design intuition.
Excellent communication skills
Proficiency in mechanical CAD and 3D modeling (we use SolidWorks)
Experience with rapid prototyping tools like 3D printing, laser cutting
Experience working with sensors/actuators
Basic proficiency with the Linux operating systems
Being the type of person who enjoys coming up with out of the box solutions to problems with seemingly obvious (but suboptimal) answers

Nice to have

Bachelor’s degree or higher in an Engineering field such as Mechanical Engineering
Experience working with code (Python / C++)
Experience in transitioning hardware from prototype to production
Experience working with outside manufactures and suppliers
Familiarity with standard electronic test equipment, including multimeters, oscilloscopes, and power supplies.
Magic wizard fingers