Hardware Engineer

Orchard Robotics•San Francisco, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Orchard is hiring a Hardware Engineer to design, build, and improve agricultural camera systems. Working closely with the Hardware Lead, this person will own mechanical CAD and design projects, handle electrical integration and troubleshooting, and help establish quality checks for assemblies and subassemblies. This is a broad, hands-on role spanning mechanical and electrical systems. Work includes refining enclosures in CAD, building wiring harnesses, diagnosing power issues, and developing test fixtures. The engineer will take projects from design concept to working hardware and help make the results reliable and repeatable in production. Orchard’s camera systems operate on tractors and farm vehicles and must withstand vibration, impact, dust, water, and heat. The role partners with Perception and Embedded Software teams on system requirements and interfaces while owning physical hardware work within the Hardware team. The role is full-time, five days a week at Orchard’s San Francisco office. The team works closely with the CEO, Hardware Lead, Operations team, and engineers. The posting notes that moving fast sometimes means staying late or working weekends.

Requirements

At least 3 years of professional hardware or mechanical engineering experience developing electromechanical products, with hands-on work across both areas.
Strong mechanical design and 3D CAD skills, including complex assemblies, production drawings, tolerancing, materials, fasteners, and design for manufacturing.
Experience designing machined, sheet-metal, and 3D-printed components and taking designs from concept to production hardware.
Practical electrical skills, including reading wiring schematics, selecting components, building harnesses, crimping and soldering, and troubleshooting power and connectivity.
Experience building prototypes and developing hardware tests end to end.
Ability to own projects independently while working closely with the Hardware Lead on priorities and design decisions.
Clear documentation and communication, careful follow-through, and willingness to work across CAD, the workbench, and production troubleshooting.

Nice To Haves

Experience with cameras, NVIDIA Jetson, or Linux.
Experience with test fixtures, production quality assurance, environmental testing, or rugged hardware.
Sheet-metal enclosure design and PEM hardware experience.
PCB design and board-level debugging experience.

Responsibilities

Own mechanical design projects.
Build and integrate electrical systems.
Create repeatable testing processes.
Troubleshoot hardware.
Develop quality assurance processes for assemblies and subassemblies.
Design hardware for real-world use, including harsh farm environments.
Support production and manufacturing while iteratively improving designs.
Take hardware projects from design concept through working hardware and help make production results reliable and repeatable.
Partner with Perception and Embedded Software teams on system requirements and interfaces.
Document work and communicate clearly across the team.