Hardware Systems Prototyping / Research Engineer

About 1X Since its founding in 2015, 1X has been at the forefront of developing advanced humanoid robots designed for household use. Our mission is to create an abundant supply of labor through safe, intelligent humanoids. As a Hardware Systems Prototyper / Research Engineer on the 1X Labs team, your role is: Your role is to challenge the current state of the art by building real systems—quickly, rigorously, and in constant contact with reality. You ideate new mechanisms, architectures, and system concepts; turn them into working hardware; and subject them to relentless scrutiny. Prototypes are not presentations—they exist to answer concrete questions. You build to test ideas, invalidate assumptions, expose hidden constraints, and push performance as far as it will go. You don’t stop when something works—you stop when it approaches human-level behavior, or when you understand precisely why it doesn’t. You move fluidly between mechanics, electronics, and software. You iterate fast, but with intent: each build is measured, benchmarked, and compared against biological or system-level reference targets. When something holds up, you push it harder. When it breaks, you learn from it and move on. This role is fundamentally about execution. You will both originate ideas and bring others’ concepts to life—including ideas that are not yours. You don’t get stuck in theoretical debates or optimization-before-evidence; you prefer to build, test, and let the system speak. Crucially, you don’t stop at clever prototypes. You do what it takes to translate successful concepts into something that can survive integration with real products, real constraints, and real manufacturing processes. Responsibilities Research and critically evaluate state-of-the-art technologies across hardware, actuation, sensing, and system design, with a focus on what can realistically move humanoid performance forward. Rapidly prototype promising concepts—your own and others’—using electronics, mechanics, and software to get to first hardware as quickly as possible. Design experiments and test setups to rigorously evaluate performance, characterize limits, and generate trustworthy data. Relentlessly benchmark and falsify prototypes against explicit performance targets. Work closely with engineering, materials, and manufacturing teams to turn successful prototypes into credible paths toward product integration.