Interchain Foundation

Title: Soft Goods Designer Location San Francisco Employment Type Full time Location Type Hybrid Department Hardware ABOUT US: Skip is on a mission to make life joyful through powered movement. Movement is a powerful way to build physical, mental and social health. Yet it is elusive for 2 billion people due to age, injury, or disability. We are building products that will restore mobility for millions and enable a new frontier of joyful movement experiences. We want to build a future where a grandparent can easily outrun their grandkids and no one is left behind at the trailhead. Skip is a 22-person early-stage start-up that spun out of Google X in 2023. With deep cross-disciplinary expertise and key partnerships (e.g. with Arc’teryx) we are uniquely positioned to launch the first commercially successful wearable robotic device, the MO/GO, develop a platform to launch future Movewear products and transform millions of lives in the coming years. THE ROLE: We are seeking a highly motivated and adaptable soft goods designer who is excited to solve problems that have never existed before — because the product category hasn't existed before. You will own the design and development of the garments that integrate with the MO/GO, starting with a technical pant built to work with our wearable robotic device. This isn't a fashion brief. It's a functional systems design challenge: the garment is part of the product. You'll work hand-in-hand with our mechanical and human factors engineers to make sure fabric, fit, and device work as one. Some of the specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to: - Lead the design and technical development of the MO/GO integration pant from concept through production — pattern making, material selection, fit iteration, and factory handoff - Define the functional requirements of the garment in close collaboration with our mechanical, firmware, and human factors teams — attachment points, range of motion, load paths, and sensor placement all live in your brief - Select and qualify technical fabrics and materials for performance bottoms: stretch wovens, knits, softshells, and any novel material that earns its place on the body - Build and iterate physical prototypes rapidly; run fit sessions with internal wearers and external test users and translate feedback into pattern and material updates - Own the Bill of Materials, tech packs, and construction specs to a standard that factories can execute reliably at scale - Establish and manage relationships with fabric mills, trims suppliers, and cut-and-sew factories; understand lead times, MOQs, and what it takes to actually get something made - Contribute to the long-term Movewear soft goods platform — define the design language, material standards, and construction principles that future products will build on - Collaborate with our Arc'teryx partners and bring that standard of craft and technical rigour to everything you make - Wear prototypes on hikes, in the gym, and around the office — your body is a test rig Basic Qualifications - 8+ years' experience in soft goods design and development, with a focus on technical bottoms - 5+ years at an outdoor, performance, or technical apparel company — you know what makes a pant work in the field - Expert-level knowledge of technical fabrics for lower body: stretch wovens, softshells, knits, and the trims and hardware that go with them - Strong pattern making and garment construction fundamentals — you can read and mark up a pattern, not just a mood board - Experience writing tech packs and managing factory relationships through production - Ability to relocate to work at the Skip Bay Area office - Sense of humour, tolerant of Aussie & Canadian spelling Bonus Points - Experience designing garments that integrate with hardware, bracing, or orthotic devices - Familiarity with human factors, ergonomics, or biomechanics as they apply to garment design - Experience with medical or assistive device adjacent apparel (compression, prosthetics interface, exosuit softgoods) - Experience in start-up or early-stage product environments - Personal motivation to improve human movement - Taylor Swift fan. Good taste in background music :) This is a full time hybrid position working at the Skip office in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. Skip is an equal opportunity employer. Our hiring decisions are based on need and competence to satisfy said need. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected status. Any and all offers of employment extended by Skip are conditional on candidates’ ability to provide satisfactory proof of eligibility to maintain full-time employment in the United States.

Title: Motor Control Firmware Engineer Location: San Francisco Department: Firmware Job Description: ABOUT US: Skip is on a mission to make life joyful through powered movement. Movement is a powerful way to build physical, mental and social health. Yet it is elusive for 2 billion people due to age, injury, or disability. We are building products that will restore mobility for millions and enable a new frontier of joyful movement experiences. We want to build a future where a grandparent can easily outrun their grandkids and no one is left behind at the trailhead. Skip is a 22-person early-stage start-up that spun out of Google X in 2023. With deep cross-disciplinary expertise and key partnerships (e.g. with Arc’teryx) we are uniquely positioned to launch the first commercially successful wearable robotic device, the MO/GO, develop a platform to launch future Movewear products and transform millions of lives in the coming years. THE ROLE: We are seeking a highly motivated and adaptable individual who will explore the peaks and valleys of all problems that may come up while building a new generation of wearable robots for everyday life. The mechatronics systems engineer would primarily be responsible for the design, development, testing and validation of our powertrain, including motor control for novel actuators, and complex battery management. The team has just finished an “EVT” build, so we have functional prototypes but they need to be tested, improved and optimised with a whole-system approach. We are a team of 22 phenomenal senior engineers and product leaders, where everyone contributes directly to product development. As such this will start as an individual contributor role, with leadership for critical systems, and directing work for people contributing to the system (e.g. working closely with our test engineer and gearbox designer). Some of the specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to: - Understand every element of our mechatronics system; being the go-to person for troubleshooting - Guide design and development decisions for future iterations of the product, and future systems; including battery and motor specifications, motor control chip selection and firmware requirements - Own the testing protocol to validate performance of the mechatronics at volumes and standards relevant to consumer products (and work with our Test Engineer to execute) - Help us precisely control a range of actuators including off-the-shelf BLDCs, custom PMSM and axial flux motors, cycloid gearboxes, and series elastic actuators, including writing firmware for our motor control chip (currently c2000; but likely to change over time) - Characterize and model our actuators for open-loop and closed-loop torque control. Create thermal models and evaluate the thermal limits of the actuator. - Own the process of productising our novel actuation systems as standalone products and components of a broader platform - Wear prototypes several hours a week to participate in data collection, on-body testing and provide feedback - Bring joy to the team, participate in embarrassing team events, tolerate KZ’s terrible music Basic Qualifications - 5+ years’ experience working in robotics or mechatronics - Extensive experience controlling PMSM, including Ti and STM chipsets - Experience with design for systems at scale, with a focus on testing and validation - Demonstrable expertise in C/C++ for high performance applications - Expertise with Linux, command-line tools, Python scripting - Strong experience developing real-time firmware for multi-sensor systems - Knowledge of low level hardware and OS internals at a kernel level - Attention to detail, even in the middle of overly-long lists - Experience with troubleshooting tools (JTAG, SWD, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers) - Ability to work at the Skip Bay Area office >3 days/week - Sense of humour, tolerant of Aussie & Canadian spelling Bonus Points - Experience with powered consumer electronics (e.g. drones, robot vacuums) - Experience in start-up environments and using AI coding tools to leverage your skills for broader impact - Personal motivation to improve human movement This is a full time hybrid position working at the Skip office in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. Skip is an equal opportunity employer. Our hiring decisions are based on need and competence to satisfy said need. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected status. Any and all offers of employment extended by Skip are conditional on candidates’ ability to provide satisfactory proof of eligibility to maintain full-time employment in the United States.