About Caper

Caper (跃氪) is a pioneering company in retail automation technology under Instacart, a North American NASDAQ-listed company. As its core smart hardware brand, Caper is committed to redefining the shopping experience through groundbreaking product design and engineering innovation.

Our flagship product, the Caper Smart Cart, stands as a benchmark for embodied AI technology applications. To achieve seamless and reliable autonomous shopping functionality, we integrate industry-leading AI vision systems, high-precision sensors, and advanced visual-language model (VLM) algorithms.

The Caper Smart Cart has successfully served both North American and global markets, including dozens of top-tier retail brands such as the top 3 supermarket giants in North America, demonstrating the excellence of our technology and product design. Backed by our parent company Instacart—a global leader in online fresh grocery delivery with over a decade of experience serving 600+ retail brands and 55,000+ stores across North America—Caper benefits from unparalleled market insights, technical resources, and large-scale implementation platforms, providing engineers with vast opportunities to tackle real-world complex challenges.

Welcome to visit our official website: www.caper.ai

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ABOUT THE TEAM

The Caper Product R&D team is responsible for designing the electronic and mechanical systems of our shopping carts. In product structural design, Caper's engineers are constantly pushing boundaries through deep thinking, achieving unique innovations in material application, load-bearing structure optimization, and process and manufacturability.

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ABOUT THE ROLE

As the Mechanical Architect Engineer for our smart shopping cart products, you will lead the team to overcome key technical challenges, such as cart body weight reduction and the wheel lock system. You will be responsible for the end-to-end design of the entire unit (from concept development to mass production closure) and for establishing new standards. You will spearhead DFX reviews and risk management, ensure the implementation of AI-related designs, and prioritize the team's capability development. The ultimate goal is to create a durable and innovative product that is well-suited for the high-frequency usage scenarios in supermarkets.

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ABOUT THE JOB

1. Technical Leadership & Innovation

• Spearhead initiatives to tackle key structural challenges for the smart shopping cart, such as lightweight design and the wheel lock system.
• Drive the implementation of new materials and processes to achieve weight reduction targets while balancing costs.

2. System-level Integration & Standardization

• Define the overall mechanical architecture and stack-up, coordinating the layout of electronics, sensors, and AI modules to ensure a design that integrates structure and function.
• Establish structural design specifications, tolerance standards, and interface protocols; lead design reviews and technical decision-making.

3. DFX & Risk Management

• Lead end-to-end DFM/DFA/DFT reviews and drive collaboration with the supply chain.
• Implement structural design DFMEA (Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) to predict and mitigate mass production risks.

4. Reliability Framework Development

• Define mechanical reliability test standards (e.g., vibration, shock, fatigue life) and lead CAE simulations (statics, dynamics, thermal analysis) to drive design iterations.
• Develop predictive failure models to enhance product durability in complex supermarket environments.

5. Cross-functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with electronics, software, AI, and firmware teams to ensure the smooth implementation of the product solution.
• Partner with the Industrial Design (ID) team to balance aesthetic requirements with engineering feasibility.

ABOUT YOU

Minimum Qualifications

1. Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field, with 10+ years of experience in mechanical design and development, and 3+ years of technical team management experience.

2. Proficiency in complex assembly design and familiarity with simulation analysis tools (e.g., ANSYS).

3. Extensive experience in thermal management, structural design, material selection, and manufacturing processes, particularly in the molding and forming of materials like plastics and metals.

4. Familiarity with the product development process and lifecycle management; has led at least 3 products through the entire cycle from concept to mass production.

5. Excellent comprehension and a big-picture perspective, with the ability to deeply understand product usage scenarios and design accordingly.

6. Exceptional problem-solving and technical decision-making skills to effectively address complex design challenges.

7. Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to coordinate different teams to achieve project goals.

8. A forward-thinking technical mindset with the ability to lead a team in continuous innovation.

9. Proven ability in cost control, capable of reducing BOM costs through design optimization.

10. Proficient in written English with basic conversational skills.

Preferred Qualifications

1. Excellent team management skills, with the ability to build a structural engineering knowledge base (design guidelines, case studies), standardize simulation toolchains (e.g., ANSYS, SolidWorks), and lead technical training to enhance the team's analytical capabilities in areas like lightweighting.

2. Fluency in English to coordinate technical alignment between R&D teams in China and the US, synchronize design inputs, standards, and validation results, and overcome cross-timezone communication barriers.

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We offer a competitive salary package

At Caper, the total compensation consists of base salary and equity in the form of RSUs (Restricted Stock Units). The job description shows only the base salary component, but we will additionally offer additional stock rewards from our parent company, Instacart. As a publicly traded company in the U.S., Instacart's stock can be directly traded on the market and holds potential for appreciation.

Caper has our own salary philosophy. The final salary of an offer will have a direct connection with the candidate's experience and skill level presented during the interview.

What benefits we aim to provide:

New employees can enjoy 10 days of paid annual leave, 10 days of paid sick leave, and male employees will have an additional 4 weeks of paid paternity leave.

Annual learning fund, annual personal living fund, annual team building activities, health & medical coverage, and more.

Who should join us!

We are looking for driven individuals who thrive in a fast-paced engineering/product environment, are passionate about product and improving team performance, and feel comfortable pushing the limits of what is possible.

We welcome every individual who is direct and open to facilitate our adorable no-political culture.

Every day we solve incredibly complex problems to create an experience for our users that is absolutely magical. Join us!