Vendra (YC S24) · 3 hours ago
Mechanical Engineer
San Francisco, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Mid LevelVendra is a fast growing manufacturing startup working with top aerospace and defense teams, and they are hiring a mechanical engineer to help scale how complex parts go from CAD to reality. This role involves evaluating parts for manufacturability, matching suppliers, and designing internal tools for automation and efficiency.
B2BHardwareManufacturingSaaSSoftware
Responsibilities
Read and interpret 2D drawings and CAD
Identify manufacturing risks before parts ever get to a supplier
Match parts to the right supplier and process using tons of real data
Work directly with customer and manufacturers to resolve issues
Run supplier operations from RFQ to quote to production management to delivery
Help turn human engineering judgment (aka all of the above) into reliable, automated software systems
Evaluate parts for manufacturability
Read and interpret 2D drawings and 3D CAD to understand customer requirements (GD&T, material, finish, setup, etc.)
Flag manufacturing risks early (need to elaborate more here)
Match customer requirements to suppliers in the Vendra network based on capabilities, real-time capacity, and past experience
Help qualify new suppliers and processes (what they can build well, not just what they claim)
Build structure around capturing supplier experience (past performance, on-time-delivery, etc.) and feed it into our matching systems
Help design internal tools for supplier matching, drawing/CAD analysis, and automating RFQ and production workflows
We capture a ton of valuable data on suppliers - technical details of the parts they win, quality metrics, response times and feedback, etc. - all of which needs to feed into the core RFQ analysis and matching system we’re building
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (or equivalent practical experience)
Strong experience with manufacturing, specifically in CNC machining (metals, plastics, composites)
Strong experience with manufacturing, specifically in Additive manufacturing (FDM, SLA, SLS, DMLS, or similar)
Proven ability to read and understand complex 2D drawings (GD&T, tolerances, notes)
Proven ability to analyze CAD models to understand manufacturing processes and identify manufacturing issues quickly and accurately
Hands on experience taking parts from design → prototype → production
Experience with Python or other software tools to analyze data and automate parts of your workflow (parsing 2D drawings, analyzing supplier performance, building internal tools)
Experience with using AI effectively for research, data analysis, and problem solving
Preferred
Familiarity with supplier qualification and capability assessments
Experience in high-mix manufacturing (at both low and high volume)
Experience building or working with software tooling (especially process automation)
Experience in fast-moving startups without day-to-day structure
Company
Vendra (YC S24)
Vendra is the only on-demand manufacturing platform that connects you directly to US manufacturers with immediate production capacity.
Founded in 2024
2-10 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageTotal Funding
$0.5MKey Investors
Y Combinator
2025-07-07Seed
2024-09-25Pre Seed· $0.5M
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