Mechanical Engineer / Industrial Designer - Founding Hire, Hardware Division

Bigfoot Ventures · Downtown Indianapolis · On-site · Part-time or project to start

We’re a boutique VC fund launching a hardware division. Why: the outdoor devices we need don’t exist off the shelf, so we’re building them. You’d be the first hire - no IT department, no mechanical department, no one to hand things off to. What you get that most founding hires don’t: a funded parent that isn’t running out of runway in eleven months.

What we build Outdoor IoT devices - access control and public-space hardware. Built for weather, UV, temperature swings, and people who’d rather they weren’t there.

The job Sketch it, model it, print it, break it, fix it, then call the tool shop. Napkin to first articles, start to finish.

• IP65-IP68 sealing: gaskets, potting, glands, pressure equalization
• IK08-IK10 impact resistance: ribs, wall sections, mounts that resist prying, cutting, and walking off
• Tamper-resistant hardware: security fasteners, concealed mounts, tamper-evident seals
• RF-aware enclosure design - the instinct toward a metal box for vandal resistance kills your antenna, so it can’t be the answer
• Thermal management in a sealed volume: solar gain, condensation, derating
• Materials built to survive years outdoors: UV-stable ASA/PC, die-cast aluminum, anti-graffiti finishes
• Standing up a prototyping shop from empty floor space - you pick the printers
• Managing tool shops in Taiwan and China: T0/T1, ECOs, cost-down

• 3+ years designing enclosures that are actually in the field. At least one lives outdoors.
• Experience with vandal-resistant or public-installation hardware - transit, EV charging, kiosks, access control, parking
• A designer’s eye and an engineer’s discipline - this role doesn’t split the two
• Injection-molding DFM fluency; working knowledge of IEC 60529, IEC 62262, UL 746C, ASTM B117
• SolidWorks, Creo, or Fusion, with real surfacing skills and GD&T fluency
• A portfolio of shipped products, not renders - be ready to talk through what went wrong on each

Pluses: hands-on prototype manufacturing (your own printers, machining, silicone tooling), FEA, mold flow analysis, antenna-aware design, FCC/CE certification experience, sheet metal, Mandarin.

Portfolio review, then a practical: we hand you a board, an antenna, a battery, and an environment. You walk us through the trade-offs.

Offer $6,000-$7,000/month, based on experience. Project-based to start. Real shop budget. Your parts in the field within months, your name on the tooling. Ground-floor input on what this becomes.

To apply: Send your CV and portfolio to [insert email]. Include one paragraph on the hardest sealing or impact problem you’ve solved, and what you’d do differently now.

Bigfoot Ventures is an equal opportunity employer.

Pay: $5,000.00 - $6,000.00 per month