Senior Mechanical Design Engineer
Listing checked October 2, 2026 · pay as published by Micro1
Overview
micro1 seeks Senior Mechanical Design Engineers to support a customer's project focused on complex CAD assembly exploration and AI development. You will apply your mechanical design expertise to help train next-generation AI systems, shaping how models learn and reason from real-world input. This is a remote contractor role, roughly 15 hours per week, with compensation between $40 and $90 per hour. No prior AI experience is needed; your domain knowledge in parametric CAD, GD&T, and mechanism analysis is what matters.
What You'll Do7
- 1Break down multi-part mechanical assemblies to uncover critical design decisions, constraints, and failure points that test expert reasoning.
- 2Craft challenging, non-obvious technical questions that assess real-world mechanical design judgment beyond junior-level understanding.
- 3Validate and document exact, defensible answers directly from CAD models, ensuring clear traceability and accuracy.
- 4Review AI-generated outputs, identify breakdowns or inaccuracies in mechanical reasoning, and propose targeted improvements.
- 5Flag ambiguous, trivial, or unanswerable questions and refine them for clarity and precision.
- 6Document edge cases and sources of disagreement within answers to maintain strict verifiability.
- 7Communicate findings and reasoning in clear, professional written and verbal form to support continuous project improvement.
Requirements7
- 15+ years of professional experience creating and overseeing multi-part mechanical assemblies from concept, not just from existing drawings.
- 2Mastery in at least one major parametric CAD tool: SolidWorks, Creo, NX, CATIA, Inventor, Fusion, Onshape, or Solid Edge.
- 3Demonstrated experience in teaching, mentoring, or leading, whether through formal instruction, leading design reviews, or coaching engineering teams.
- 4Expertise in design intent, assembly reasoning, mechanism and kinematic analysis, and robust GD&T/tolerance judgment.
- 5Background in at least one discipline: industrial machinery and automation, robotics, automotive and heavy equipment, aerospace and defense, medical devices, consumer products, or tooling and fixture design.
- 6Exceptional written English communication skills, as your documentation directly influences project deliverables.
- 7Bonus: Experience with FreeCAD, advanced GD&T/tolerance analysis, or formal design review leadership.
Who Should Apply
This role suits a seasoned mechanical design engineer with at least five years of hands-on experience building multi-part assemblies from scratch, deep command of a parametric CAD tool, and a track record of mentoring or leading design reviews. You should be comfortable analyzing mechanisms, applying GD&T, and writing precise technical English. It is less suitable for engineers who have only worked from existing drawings or who lack teaching or review experience. Candidates often get rejected for not showing enough depth in assembly reasoning or for providing vague, non-specific examples of their design work. If you cannot clearly explain your design intent and tolerance choices, your fit score will suffer.
Salary Insight
The compensation for this contractor role is $40 to $90 per hour, as stated in the job posting. No additional benefits or overtime details are provided.
Pay and demand for Design & Creative roles
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This role
$40–$90/hr
Most Design & Creative roles pay $55–$95 per hour. This role's pay falls inside that range.
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Compensation
$40–90/hr
Required Skills
Application Tip
In your application, highlight specific multi-part assemblies you designed from concept, name the parametric CAD tool you used, and describe a design review or mentoring moment where you explained GD&T or mechanism choices. Quantify the complexity, such as number of parts or tolerance requirements, to show senior-level depth.
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