Founding Electrical Engineer

Department: Engineering

Location: San Francisco

Employment Type: FullTime

About the Role

This is a founding engineering seat at a Y Combinator–backed consumer wearable startup building hardware at the intersection of biometrics, emotional intelligence, and on-device inference. The team is small, the product is already on users' wrists, and you will own the entire electrical stack — from schematic to production handoff — as the company's first dedicated electrical engineer.

The founding team brings deep consumer hardware pedigree (ex-Apple, among others), and this role is expected to grow into an engineering leadership position as the company scales. Equity is meaningful and reflects the founding nature of the seat.

What You'll Do

• Own end-to-end board and PCB design for a wearable consumer device — schematic capture, layout, and full manufacturing handoff

• Drive rapid hardware revision cycles, iterating quickly from prototype to increasingly refined builds

• Lead bring-up, testing, validation, and DFM/DFT processes for each revision

• Coordinate directly with suppliers and contract manufacturers for prototyping and volume production

• Manage analog/digital mixed-signal design, power management, signal integrity, and EMI/EMC considerations specific to wearable form factors

• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, ML, and industrial design teams to hit aggressive milestones

What We're Looking For

Must-haves (dealbreakers):

• 3+ years of hands-on PCB design experience with a proven track record shipping physical wearable or consumer electronics products

• Authorized to work in the United States without visa sponsorship; able and willing to work on-site

Required skills & experience:

• Proficiency in industry-standard PCB design tools (e.g., Altium, OrCAD, Eagle) for schematic capture, layout, and manufacturing handoff

• Solid experience with hardware bring-up, testing, validation, and DFM/DFT processes

• Hands-on supplier and CM coordination for prototype and production runs

• Strong grasp of analog/digital mixed-signal design, power management, signal integrity, and EMI/EMC in constrained wearable form factors

• Comfortable with the pace and ambiguity of an early-stage startup; strong ownership mindset and collaborative working style

Nice to have:

• Experience with wireless-enabled wearables or consumer electronics (e.g., BLE) and antenna design considerations

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary: $150,000 USD annually

• Equity: Up to 1–2% (founding-level grant)

• Early-stage company backed by Y Combinator (Spring 2026 batch) with a round actively closing

Location

• On-site — New York, NY, United States (San Francisco candidates also considered)

• No remote or hybrid option at this stage

• Visa sponsorship: Not available — must be currently authorized to work in the US (visa transfers acceptable)