Electrical Engineer

Foundation•San Francisco, CA

4h•$150,000 - $300,000

About The Position

Own the end-to-end design of custom electronics for robotic systems, including schematics, layout, and BOM selection. Lead integration of diverse sensors—IMUs, encoders, force/torque, vision, environmental, and custom sensing solutions. Design and evaluate embedded and mixed-signal systems (MCUs, SoCs, FPGAs, power, comms, sensing). Work closely with mechanical, firmware, and software teams to bring up complete robotic subsystems. Develop and maintain low-level firmware to enable hardware bring-up, diagnostics, and early system functionality. Collaborate with silicon partners to evaluate and integrate next-generation components (motor drivers, sensors, compute modules, radios). Perform board bring-up, validation, and debugging using lab instrumentation and automated test setups. Drive improvements in design for manufacturability (DFM), testability (DFT), and reliability. Define hardware/firmware interfaces and support clean abstractions for higher-level software. Support the transition from prototype to production with contract manufacturers and test engineers. Stay current with emerging technologies in embedded electronics, sensing, power systems, and robotic platforms.

Requirements

A proven track record designing embedded systems using MCUs, DSPs, or FPGAs in real-world, high-reliability products.
Deep experience integrating a wide range of sensors (IMUs, encoders, force/torque, vision, environmental, custom).
Strong system-level thinking: you understand how electronics, firmware, mechanics, and software interact in a robot.
The ability to write firmware in C/C++ (or similar) to bring up boards, configure peripherals, and make hardware usable.
Hands-on debugging skills with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, and JTAG/SWD tools.
Proficiency with ECAD tools such as Altium Designer, KiCad, or Cadence.
Solid fundamentals in signal integrity, power distribution, grounding, and thermal design.
A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field—or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience with motor control systems (BLDC, brushed, stepper) and power electronics is a strong plus.
Comfort working with early-stage silicon, datasheets, and incomplete documentation.
Experience with wireless systems (BLE, Wi-Fi, etc.) and secure hardware design is a plus.
Exposure to safety standards (IEC, ISO) and EMI/EMC compliance testing.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end design of custom electronics for robotic systems, including schematics, layout, and BOM selection.
Lead integration of diverse sensors—IMUs, encoders, force/torque, vision, environmental, and custom sensing solutions.
Design and evaluate embedded and mixed-signal systems (MCUs, SoCs, FPGAs, power, comms, sensing).
Work closely with mechanical, firmware, and software teams to bring up complete robotic subsystems.
Develop and maintain low-level firmware to enable hardware bring-up, diagnostics, and early system functionality.
Collaborate with silicon partners to evaluate and integrate next-generation components (motor drivers, sensors, compute modules, radios).
Perform board bring-up, validation, and debugging using lab instrumentation and automated test setups.
Drive improvements in design for manufacturability (DFM), testability (DFT), and reliability.
Define hardware/firmware interfaces and support clean abstractions for higher-level software.
Support the transition from prototype to production with contract manufacturers and test engineers.
Stay current with emerging technologies in embedded electronics, sensing, power systems, and robotic platforms.