Junior Product Development Engineer (Hands-On Builder)

About Sheetak

Sheetak is a developer of advanced thermoelectric solutions, delivering solid-state cooling, heating, and power generation technology across aerospace, defense, medical, semiconductor, and industrial markets.

Our compact, high-performance devices solve thermal management problems that conventional fans, compressors, and liquid loops cannot, from spot-cooling laser diodes and sensors to cooling electronics enclosures in the field.

As we grow our product lineup, from development kits like CryoSnap and test chambers like QOOLSENSE to custom production hardware for customers, we are looking for a Junior Product Development Engineer to help take new ideas from a rough concept to a working, testable prototype.

About the role

Sheetak builds thermoelectric cooling and heating systems, from development kits to custom production hardware. We are looking for a junior engineer who wants to build things, not just design them on a screen. You will work directly with our Product Manager on new product ideas, customer prototypes, and custom applications, taking projects from a rough concept to a working, testable prototype.

This is a hands-on, generalist role: mechanical design, fabrication, firmware and electronics, assembly, and light project management on your own builds, all in the same week.

What you will do

• Design mechanical parts and fixtures in 3D CAD for new product concepts and custom customer applications.
• Build and test physical prototypes: 3D printing, and machining on a mill or lathe when needed.
• Get prototypes working end to end, not just the mechanical piece: wire it up, load firmware, get it running on the bench.
• Do electronic assembly and prototyping: soldering, wiring harnesses, board bring-up, bench debugging.
• Iterate fast on customer-specific rigs and one-off builds, often with limited specs and a lot of ambiguity.
• Help assemble product ahead of scaling, before a project has dedicated production support.
• Track parts, timelines, and outside vendors for the builds you own: light project management on your own projects, not managing other people.
• Document builds well enough that someone else could pick up where you left off.

What you need

• Mechanical design project experience. A college team project (formula SAE, robotics, rocketry, etc.) counts, this does not need to be industry experience.
• Strong 3D CAD skills and a portfolio of designed and printed parts you can show us.
• Comfortable in a machine shop: can run a mill or lathe when a job calls for it.
• Solid coding and firmware background: comfortable writing and debugging embedded code and getting a prototype running end to end (Arduino/C-family experience is a good sign).
• Able to create and debug small software tools with AI assistance (Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, or similar), not necessarily a formal CS background.
• Willing to do hands-on assembly work, both mechanical and electronic, when a project needs it, not just design work.
• Self-directed: comfortable picking up new tools and figuring things out without a lot of hand-holding.
• No project management experience required: willingness to track your own tasks, parts, and timelines is enough.

Nice to have

• Exposure to product design, thermal systems, TECs/Peltier devices, or thermal management.
• Experience with customer-facing prototyping, building something for someone else's spec, not just your own project.
• Comfort working directly with customers to scope a build.

Why this role

This is a broad, early-career seat with real ownership. You will see projects from a customer email through a working prototype, not one narrow slice of a big process. If you like building things with your hands and want to grow into a full product development role, this is built for that.

A note on applying: A resume alone won't be considered for this role. Along with your resume, submit a portfolio of what you've actually built, photos, CAD files, videos, whatever you have, plus a short write-up for each project: what it was, what you built, and what problems you ran into and solved. This can come from a job, a school team, or your own garage projects, it just needs to be real and yours.

Applications without this will not be reviewed.

Systems Compensation: $60,000 to $70,000 base, plus health benefits