Hardware

Prototyping Engineer

Tokyo (Hatchobori)Full-time / Contract (negotiable)

About the Team

The hardware team at HAPT Lab takes electronic products from concept through to manufacturing in house. Because the same team follows mechanical design, boards, firmware and the app, an idea raised on Monday is usually moving on a bench by Friday.

Because the team is small, the boundaries between roles are soft. The person who draws the part often solders it, measures it, and evaluates it. We would rather one person see the whole loop than hand a problem across three desks.

About the Role

You will shorten the distance between a concept and a working machine. Sitting alongside mechanical and firmware engineers, you will assemble prototypes, build fixtures, run experiments, and narrow down why something is not behaving as designed.

We are looking for a generalist who makes things rather than a specialist in one discipline — someone anchored in mechanics, electronics, fabrication or experimental work who is willing to reach into the neighbouring field. If you notice where the drawing and the physical part disagree, and tell the designer plainly, you will fit well here.

The role is based at our office and lab in Hatchobori, Tokyo. Because the work involves physical hardware, we expect you on site at least three days a week.

In this role, you will

Work with mechanical and firmware engineers to design, assemble and iterate on prototypes
Diagnose and repair faults spanning the mechanical, electrical, sensing and actuation subsystems
Design and build fixtures, instrument mounts and test hardware for evaluation
Carry out low-volume builds and engineering changes using 3D printing, machining, soldering and wiring
Design measurement experiments for properties such as vibration response and latency, then collect and organize the data so it informs design decisions
Maintain lab equipment, tooling, parts inventory and workspaces so anyone can reproduce a procedure
Document assembly steps and measurement conditions to keep prototypes repeatable and raise build quality over time
Flag technical risks early, challenge the underlying assumptions when it matters, and propose improvements to reliability and manufacturability

You might thrive in this role if you

Have hands-on experience with electromechanical hardware — robotics, precision instruments, consumer electronics, medical devices or similar
Can isolate electrical faults using an oscilloscope, multimeter, bench supply and other common test equipment
Read schematics, wiring diagrams, mechanical drawings and datasheets comfortably
Can build and modify wire harnesses, and solder or rework circuit boards
Grasp the constraints of a problem quickly, judge the risks, and offer practical solutions
Communicate across disciplines, and can get the essential point across to someone outside your field
Enjoy an environment where the subject keeps changing, and can move several parallel projects forward
Will teach yourself an unfamiliar tool or technology when the project needs it

Nice to have

Experience developing haptic devices, vibration actuators or force-feedback hardware
Mechanical design experience in CAD (Autodesk Fusion, Inventor or similar)
Firmware development on microcontrollers (ESP32, STM32, nRF52 or similar)
Automating measurements or analysing data with Python or equivalent
Taking a product into production, or working with external manufacturing partners

Details

Employment type: Full-time / Contract (negotiable)
Location: Tokyo (Hatchobori)
Salary: JPY 6,000,000 – 10,000,000 (based on experience)
Working hours: Flexible hours (core hours 11:00–16:00)
Benefits: Social insurance, commuting allowance, budget for books and equipment, hybrid remote and on-site work

Apply for this role

We review every application and reply within a week.

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