K

Kickmaker

Industrializes high-tech prototypes to mass production

Freelance Mechanical Engineer

ContractUpdated on 10/16/2026
No salary listed
Mid
Bachelor's, Master's
Nantes, France
Hybrid
Mechanical EngineeringDesign Engineering

About the job

Requirements
  • Hold an engineering degree or a master's degree (equivalent to bac+5) in mechanical engineering.
  • Have participated in the development of a complex product involving mechanical engineering, electronics, and software.
  • Have worked on product industrialization.
  • Have mechanical design skills.
  • Be proficient in computer-aided design software such as SolidWorks, Creo, or CATIA.
  • English is required.
Responsibilities
  • Define project needs in consultation with the client.
  • Design industrial mechanical and mechatronic products in collaboration with electronics and software disciplines.
  • Prototype, test, and functionally integrate products.
  • Create industrial documentation, including specifications, 2D drawings, and justifications such as design reviews, tolerance chains, and simulations.
  • Monitor product industrialization, including design-for-X activities, supplier follow-up, production-method selection, tooling development, and pre-series and series production launches.
  • Monitor certification and design validation.
  • Propose and defend action plans.
  • Ensure the quality of established processes and compliance with applicable health, safety, and environmental standards.
  • Contribute to defining eco-design and industrial relocation approaches.
  • Participate in or implement product life-cycle analyses to improve products' corporate social responsibility impacts.
  • Implement eco-design analysis guidelines in product development.

About the company

Kickmaker helps high-tech companies turn prototypes into mass-produced products. It offers turnkey industrialization or stage-specific support across the full product lifecycle—design strategy, industrialization, production monitoring, quality control, and lifecycle management—for industries like drones, robotics, mobility, electrification, medical devices, embedded AI, IoT, and consumer electronics. It operates through four agencies (Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Shenzhen) plus urban micro-factories and leverages a community of about 150 engineers to deliver localized, scalable manufacturing. Its goal is to bridge prototype development and mass production by making high-tech products manufacturable at scale and ready for market deployment.

Company Size

201-500

Company Stage

Early VC

Total Funding

$5.5M

Headquarters

Paris, France

Founded

2016

Get referred to Kickmaker

See people who can refer or advise you

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Kickmaker opened a tri-continental network and new U.S. facility by August 2026.
  • Kickmaker published fresh 2026 robotics and AI-physicality content, signaling active demand generation.
  • Medical and robotics partnerships in 2025 reached surgeons and industrial buyers, strengthening credibility.

What critics are saying

  • Services are commoditizing as Etteplan, Apside, and similar firms chase the same projects.
  • Hardware startups still cut spending fast; one funding winter hits utilization within quarters.
  • Kickmaker owns little proprietary product; clients can internalize industrialization and squeeze margins.

What makes Kickmaker unique

  • Kickmaker spans prototype-to-series industrialization across seven offices and urban micro-factories.
  • Kickmaker keeps client IP in-house while handling design, software, data, and architecture.
  • Kickmaker specializes in hardware-heavy categories: robotics, medical devices, electrification, drones, and embedded AI.

Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?

Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Paid Sick Leave
  • 401(k) Retirement Plan

Growth & Insights

Headcount

6 month growth

0%

1 year growth

0%

2 year growth

-2%