3D Printing Engineer (FDM Hardware & Process)

At Drucks, we're building the future of footwear.
Every pair we make is designed for one person, printed on demand, and manufactured through our in-house 3D printing technology stack. We don't buy machines and run them. We build them, modify them, improve them, and push them beyond what they're designed to do.
If you've ever looked at a printer and thought "I can make this better", you'll feel at home here.
This isn't an operations role. This is for someone who loves hardware, understands FDM printing inside out, and enjoys solving problems that don't have documentation or YouTube tutorials.
What You'll Do
You'll own our print farm and help make it faster, more reliable, and more capable every single week.
Your work will include:
Operating & Optimising the Print Farm
Run and monitor multiple FDM printers across production
Maximise machine uptime and minimise print failures
Calibrate, maintain and continuously improve printer performance
Develop robust print profiles for production
Process & Material Development
Tune parameters for TPU, PVA and multi-material printing
Optimise temperature, flow, speed, cooling, retraction and adhesion
Handle moisture-sensitive materials and establish reliable material workflows
Conduct experiments and convert learnings into production-ready SOPs
Hardware, Firmware & Electronics
Assemble, rebuild and upgrade custom FDM printers
Diagnose mechanical, electrical and thermal issues down to root cause
Work on Klipper firmware, macros and printer configurations
Troubleshoot motion systems, extruders, toolchangers, heated beds, drivers, thermistors, control boards and related electronics
Commission new machines and validate hardware upgrades
Quality & Documentation
Define print quality standards
Create and maintain SOPs, parameter libraries and troubleshooting documentation
Build systems that reduce recurring failures and improve repeatability
Track defects, identify patterns and drive corrective actions
Collaborate Across Teams
Work closely with design, modelling and hardware engineers
Bridge the gap between digital design and production reality
Help scale our manufacturing platform as new products and materials are introduced
What We're Looking For
Required
2-6 years of hands-on experience with FDM 3D printing
Strong understanding of printer mechanics, electronics and firmware
Experience assembling, modifying or repairing FDM printers
Hands-on experience with Klipper (preferred) or similar open firmware
Ability to diagnose hardware issues rather than simply re-running prints
Comfortable working with flexible and hygroscopic materials like TPU and PVA
Strong understanding of process optimisation and print quality
Mechanical aptitude with printer assembly, maintenance and troubleshooting
Electronics fundamentals including soldering, schematics and low-voltage systems
Experience creating SOPs and production processes
Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in Mechanical, Mechatronics or Manufacturing Engineering
Bonus Points If You Have
Experience with toolchanger or multi-material printers
Built your own printers (Voron, RepRap, RatRig or custom machines)
CAD experience (Fusion 360 / SolidWorks)
Python scripting for printer automation
Lean Manufacturing / Six Sigma / ISO exposure
Experience in footwear or other precision consumer products
Surface finishing, post-processing or material development experience
This Role Isn't For You If
Your experience is limited to SLA or resin printing
You've only operated commercial "plug-and-play" printers
Hardware troubleshooting has always been someone else's responsibility
You prefer structured processes over figuring things out from first principles
Why Join Drucks?
You'll work on one of the world's few end-to-end 3D printed footwear platforms.
Our team designs the hardware, develops the materials, writes the firmware, builds the manufacturing workflow and ships products that people wear every day.
You'll have real ownership, work directly with the founding team, and solve problems that don't exist in traditional manufacturing.
If you enjoy building machines as much as building products, we'd love to hear from you.

Work arrangement
No