Head of Hardware

Stealth Startup • Redwood City, CA

10d

About The Position

We’re building the intelligence layer for the home: ambient, proactive, and built into a family of devices, a central hub, accessories, and the software that ties them together. We’re a Series A startup backed by a tier-1 VC and strategic technology partners, led by an experienced founder who previously built a unicorn. We’re an early team moving quickly to create a new category of consumer technology at the intersection of hardware, software, AI, and design.

The Role
We’re looking for a Head of Hardware to lead the development of our hardware platform from concept through mass production. You’ll own hardware engineering across our family of products, including our central hub and future connected devices. You'll work closely with the founders to define product architecture, build our hardware organization, and bring beautiful, reliable products to market.
This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who has built and shipped world-class consumer hardware. You should be comfortable reviewing schematics one day, solving manufacturing challenges the next, and recruiting exceptional engineers as the team grows. As one of the earliest leaders in the company, you'll have significant ownership over technical decisions, hardware architecture, supplier relationships, manufacturing, and engineering culture. You'll partner closely with software, AI, product, design, and operations to create seamless hardware and software experiences.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience developing and shipping consumer hardware products.
• Experience taking products from concept through EVT, DVT, PVT, and mass production.
• Strong technical background across electrical, mechanical, systems, or embedded engineering, with the ability to lead multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience managing suppliers, contract manufacturers, and hardware development partners.
• Comfortable making architectural tradeoffs across performance, cost, reliability, power, manufacturability, and schedule.
• Experience building products in fast-paced startup environments or leading major hardware initiatives within larger companies.
• Strong product instincts and an appreciation for industrial design and user experience.
• Experience hiring, mentoring, and growing engineering teams.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• High ownership, low ego, and a collaborative approach to building products.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building smart home products, connected devices, IoT platforms, or ambient computing systems.
• Experience integrating sensors, wireless connectivity, audio, cameras, displays, or edge AI into consumer devices.
• Familiarity with embedded Linux, firmware development, wireless protocols, and device security.
• Experience with reliability engineering, factory bring-up, manufacturing test, and quality systems.
• Experience working with AI-powered products or hardware designed around modern AI experiences.
• Prior startup, founding engineer, or first hardware hire experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of our hardware products from early concept through engineering, validation, certification, and mass production.
• Own hardware architecture across our device ecosystem, balancing performance, cost, reliability, manufacturability, and user experience.
• Build and lead a multidisciplinary hardware team across electrical, mechanical, embedded, systems, reliability, and manufacturing engineering.
• Partner closely with product, industrial design, software, AI, and operations to deliver deeply integrated products.
• Drive rapid prototyping, iteration, and validation throughout the product development process.
• Manage relationships with contract manufacturers, suppliers, and engineering partners.
• Develop scalable manufacturing, testing, quality, and reliability processes as we prepare for production.
• Lead design reviews and make thoughtful technical decisions while balancing speed, quality, and long-term maintainability.
• Identify technical and manufacturing risks early and drive pragmatic solutions.
• Help establish engineering processes, standards, and culture as the company scales.
• Own hardware projects end-to-end and ship quickly with a high degree of autonomy.

Benefits

• Help define an entirely new category of consumer technology.
• Own hardware development for products that blend hardware, software, AI, and design.
• Work directly with experienced founders and an exceptional early team.
• Build products from the first prototype through production.
• Shape the hardware organization, engineering culture, and product roadmap from the earliest stages.
• Join early enough to have an outsized impact on both the technology and the company.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed