TRG (Tenth Revolution Group) is proud to be partnering exclusively with SwarmFarm Robotics, a pioneer in autonomous agriculture technology. This role is ideally based in Emerald, Queensland.

Purpose

The Lead Mechanical Design Engineer leads the design, prototyping, and validation of new products across the SwarmFarm platform. This is a hands‑on leadership role responsible for turning ideas into working machines, fast. You will lead from the front, working alongside the team to design, build, test, and refine the next generation of agricultural robotics.

Experience, Skills & Qualifications

- Leading or mentoring a small engineering or technical team
- Mechanical design of practical, manufacturable, and serviceable components and systems
- Mobile machinery, ideally within agriculture or related industries
- Hydraulic systems and mechanical loading principles
- FEA and design validation processes
- Hands‑on fabrication, machining, welding, and workshop environments
- CAD, manufacturing drawings, assemblies, and prototype development
- Problem‑solving and root cause analysis
- Sourcing components and working with suppliers
- Managing multiple projects and priorities in a fast‑paced environment

Key Responsibilities

Mechanical System Design

Lead the design and development of mechanical systems across the SwarmFarm robotic platform, from concept through to detailed design, prototyping, testing, and production release.

- New ideas move from concept to field test quickly
- Designs are simple, robust, manufacturable, and easy to service
- Problems are solved at the root cause, not patched
- Mechanical designs survive vibration, dust, mud, weather, chemical exposure, and field use
- Designs integrate cleanly with hydraulic, electrical, cooling, sensor, and software systems
- Robots perform reliably in real farm conditions

Team Leadership

Set the standard for practical, high‑quality mechanical design across the team.

- Set clear priorities for the design team
- Hold people accountable for quality, speed, and outcomes
- Give direct and honest feedback
- Help the team make good trade‑off decisions
- Keep multiple projects moving without losing focus
- Build a team culture that values practical design, field feedback, and ownership





Rapid Prototyping and Development

Lead rapid prototyping and design improvement work. Work closely with the workshop, fabrication team, suppliers, and field teams to build, test, learn, and improve quickly.

- Turn ideas into models, drawings, parts, and prototypes quickly
- Produce practical designs that can be fabricated and tested
- Work with the workshop team to build and modify prototype components
- Use feedback from testing, field use, manufacturing, and service teams to improve designs
- Be comfortable with raw feedback and quick iteration
- Know when a design is good enough to prototype and when it needs more engineering work

Mechanical Engineering

- Take ownership of moving design decisions forward, making calls where appropriate and bringing in the right people early for higher‑impact trade‑offs.
- Design for durability, simplicity, serviceability, and reliability
- Understand mechanical loads, stresses, vibration, fatigue, and field failure modes
- Work with hydraulic systems and understand how mechanical design affects hydraulic performance, routing, serviceability, and reliability
- Integrate mechanical designs with electrical, software, sensors, cooling, and manufacturing requirements
- Use sound engineering judgement to balance strength, cost, weight, manufacturability, and repairability
- Make design decisions with imperfect information while bringing in the right people for important trade‑offs
- Contribute directly to CAD design work when required
- Apply best practices in mechanical engineering and apply this knowledge to SwarmFarm's product

CAD Modelling & Engineering Documentation

- Develop concepts, assemblies, production drawings, brackets, mounts, and revisions
- Quickly produce DXFs and fabrication information for prototyping
- Maintain clean CAD structure, drawings, part revisions, and design records




- Ensure drawings are useful for manufacturing, fabrication, and suppliers
- Create documentation that helps the team build, service, and improve the machine

Field Testing and Validation

- Participate in prototype testing and field trials
- Analyse failures and test outcomes
- Identify root causes and drive permanent fixes
- Validate mechanical designs for strength, vibration, fatigue, serviceability, reliability, and field durability
- Ensure designs are tested against real farming conditions, not just CAD assumptions

Design Quality and Engineering Standards

- Ensure designs meet SwarmFarm performance, reliability and safety expectations
- Apply strong mechanical engineering judgement to system design decisions
- Identify opportunities to improve reliability, simplicity and cost

Multi‑Project Management

- Manage multiple design and prototype projects simultaneously
- Balance rapid development work with longer‑term design improvements
- Maintain progress and momentum across projects in a quick‑paced environment

Supplier Collaboration

- Source practical components and fabrication options
- Build robust relationships with suppliers
- Work with laser cutters, CNC folders, fabricators, powder coaters, component suppliers, and engineering partners
- Coordinate prototype parts and supplier‑built components
- Evaluate supplier capability, quality, cost, and turnaround time
- Design parts that suppliers can manufacture reliably

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

- Work closely with electrical, software and systems teams to achieve practical workable outcomes
- Ensure mechanical systems integrate effectively with other subsystems
- Collaborate with the manufacturing team to ensure designs are production‑ready

Budget and Resource Management

- Manage project budgets and allocate resources efficiently
- Provide regular progress reports to senior management and stakeholders

Why SwarmFarm?

- It Matters - Making a real difference for farmers and sustainable agriculture
- Get It Done - Solutions‑focused and committed to delivering results
- We Win Together - Success is shared across customers, partners, and team members

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📌 Lead Mechanical Design Engineer (Relocate to Emerald QLD) (Rockhampton Regional)
🏢 Jefferson Frank
📍 Rockhampton Regional