Founding Hardware Engineer

Department: Engineering

Location: San Francisco

Employment Type: FullTime

About the Role

Join an early-stage consumer AI hardware team as its Founding Hardware Engineer. You will own the hardware from the next board revision through production, helping develop a compact wearable for private interaction with computers. The device is at the prototype stage, and your work will shape its reliability and path to manufacturing.

What You'll Do

• Improve PCB layout and optimize power, RF performance, size, reliability, and cost.

• Validate board revisions on real hardware through bring-up and real-world testing.

• Guide the device from prototype toward production, including design for manufacture, testing, supplier coordination, and assembly.

• Identify hardware risks early and resolve issues during development and manufacturing.

• Own hardware decisions and the quality of finished units.

What We're Looking For

• Hands-on experience personally designing PCBs that shipped in a real product.

• Experience taking hardware from prototype to production, or strong early-career fundamentals and demonstrated ability to work quickly with AI tools.

• Ability to take ownership across board layout, power, RF, testing, suppliers, and assembly.

• Background in compact wearables, IoT devices, or consumer electronics is useful; expertise in a specific application domain is not required.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary range: $70,000 to $80,000 annually. Visa sponsorship is available.

Location

This is a full-time, on-site role in San Francisco, United States. Candidates willing to relocate are welcome.