Hybrid Senior Research Engineer, Solid Mechanics

at Gridware

• Job title: Senior Research Engineer, Solid Mechanics
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Senior
• Salary: $185,000 - $200,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Postgraduate Degree
• Tech skills: Python
• Location requirements: Hybrid, San Francisco, United States

About the role

• Senior Research Engineer specializing in solid mechanics for Gridware's new sensing capabilities. Focused on mechanics modeling and algorithm design within a climate-tech environment.

Responsibilities

• Design physics-based measurement algorithms.
• Determine which physical and structural input parameters most reduce algorithm uncertainty, to what precision they are needed, and how to acquire them—optimizing the tradeoff between input data cost and measurement accuracy. Identify which error sources dominate and mitigate them.
• Design and execute field validation studies: develop the protocol, sample size, acceptance criteria, and ground truth measurement methods to evaluate our measurement products.
• Serve as the team’s theoretical subject matter expert on structure mechanics: failure modes, material nonlinearity, creep, damage progression, soil-structure interaction, and regulatory strength standards.
• Investigate alternative measurement principles that could improve accuracy or add interpretability.
• Mentor team members on structural mechanics fundamentals and raise the rigor of the team’s scientific work.
• Collaborate closely with cross functional stakeholders to operationalize new capabilities from measurement to customer delivery.

Requirements

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Civil/Structural Engineering, or a closely related field plus 3+ years of relevant industry experience, or MS in one of those fields plus 6+ years of relevant industry experience with a demonstrated track record of leading structural mechanics work end-to-end.
• Deep expertise in solid mechanics: beam theory, stress-strain constitutive models, failure criteria, fracture mechanics, fatigue. Able to derive and critically evaluate structural models from first principles.
• Experience with nonlinear material behavior—specifically wood, composites, biological materials, or other anisotropic/viscoelastic materials. Understanding of how material structural variability, environmental factors, anisotropy, and aging affect mechanical properties.
• Track record of designing and analyzing physical experiments or validation studies with quantitative rigor—defining acceptance criteria, characterizing uncertainty, and drawing defensible conclusions.
• Scientific computing: comfortable developing mechanics models and writing experimental analysis pipelines in Python, MATLAB, or equivalent.
• Strong technical judgment, communication, and ability to translate complex mechanics into actionable engineering recommendations.
• Experience leading technically complex work across multiple stakeholders and deadlines.

Benefits

• Health, Dental & Vision (Gold and Platinum with some providers plans fully covered)
• Paid parental leave
• Alternating day off (every other Monday)
• “Off the Grid”, a two week per year paid break for all employees.
• Commuter allowance
• Company-paid training