Director, Electrical Engineering

Atomic Machines•Santa Clara, CA

About The Position

Atomic Machines is developing the Matter Compiler™, an AI-native, all-digital manufacturing system for building working machines directly from code. The company’s first product is PrimeSwitch™, a compact electromechanical power relay. Atomic Machines is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in Emeryville and Santa Clara. The Director of Electrical Engineering will lead electrical engineering for autonomous manufacturing systems that combine a core robotics platform with a variety of manufacturing processes. The role oversees development of electronics and electrical architectures spanning motion-control hardware, sensor and actuator interfaces, and specialized manufacturing systems. It also leads an Electrical Integration team responsible for interconnect strategy, interconnect diagrams, harness design and procurement, system bring-up, and integration. The director will organize development across the robotics platform and manufacturing-process portfolio, build a cohesive and scalable electrical architecture, and work with the CTO, technical leaders, and cross-functional partners to identify needs, align priorities, and balance shared platforms with process-specific designs. The role provides technical and organizational leadership, establishes engineering standards, ensures robust electrical systems, and builds and develops the engineering organization.

Requirements

Deep electrical engineering expertise, including the ability to reason from fundamentals, evaluate architecture and detailed designs, and provide technical guidance on complex problems.
Experience delivering complex electromechanical systems from design through bring-up, integration, validation, and operation.
Track record organizing development across varied systems and balancing specialized requirements with shared architecture, reuse, and scalability.
Proactive cross-functional leadership, including identifying needs, shaping requirements, developing technical roadmaps, and securing alignment through execution.
Experience building and leading engineering organizations, including hiring, coaching, developing leaders, managing performance, and delegating ownership.
Experience establishing engineering standards across distributed teams and driving accountability beyond direct reporting lines.
Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Electrical engineering leadership in autonomous machinery, robotics, advanced manufacturing, or similarly complex equipment.
Design and validation of specialized electrical systems for manufacturing or other physical processes, including high-voltage or precision-power applications.

Responsibilities

Shape electrical engineering strategy across the core robotics platform and manufacturing-process portfolio.
Identify cross-functional needs and translate them into roadmaps, priorities, resource plans, and commitments.
Develop a cohesive, scalable electrical architecture across robotics and process systems.
Work with the CTO and technical leaders to establish shared platforms and interfaces while balancing reuse with specialized requirements.
Lead end-to-end electronics development and electrical integration, including interconnect strategy, interconnect diagrams (ICDs), harness design and procurement, system bring-up, and verification.
Manage dependencies and adapt plans as requirements evolve.
Lead rigorous design reviews, challenge assumptions, and guide engineers through technical tradeoffs and difficult problems.
Establish and enforce organization-wide electrical engineering standards for design review, documentation, verification, and release, including work outside the core EE team.
Address safety, protection, reliability, manufacturability, and serviceability throughout development, including for specialized and high-voltage hardware.
Hire and coach engineers and leaders, delegate ownership, and establish clear expectations for quality and execution.