Principal Hardware Engineer, Precision Instrumentation

Astera Institute•Emeryville, CA

1d•$200,000 - $350,000

About The Position

At Astera Neuro, we are deciphering how activity across billions of neurons becomes thought, perception, and the conscious experience of the world and ourselves. Doing that requires building cutting-edge tools and infrastructure to interface with, record, and control neural activity at an unprecedented scale. You will design and build the physical systems our experiments depend on, most of which don’t exist commercially. Working directly with scientists, you will develop a design, build it, and iterate until it works for the experiment. Some projects are well specified from the start; others begin as a rough idea that takes shape as you build. The work crosses mechanical design, fabrication, electronics, and optics, often within a single project. You do not need a background in neuroscience to apply; we are looking for world-class generalists who have built precision hardware in demanding industry settings, and who pick up the science as they go. This is a principal-level role. You will own complex instruments end-to-end and drive technical direction. You will also help equip and run our design and prototyping facility, set the engineering culture and standards as the hardware team grows, mentor and hire the engineers who join you, and shape what experiments are possible here. You will report to [reporting line; confirm] and work directly with our scientists.

Requirements

World-class generalist and hands-on problem-solver who has built precision hardware in a high-precision industry, ideally medical devices, robotics, aerospace, semiconductor capital equipment, or commercial scientific instrumentation.
Experience designing and building hardware that other people relied on for real work, and keeping it running.
Resourcefulness about getting things built quickly: ability to machine one part, 3D-print the next, and send a job out for what is better outsourced.
Comfort working from a rough idea rather than a finished spec, figuring out the path to a working instrument together with the people who need it.
Deep fundamentals in mechanical design and fabrication, with real working ability in electronics or optics.
Intellectually curious, collaborative, and eager to learn the science around you.
A track record of owning complex instruments end-to-end, from concept through fabrication, integration, and reliable operation.
Experience making and defending design tradeoffs across performance, manufacturability, cost, and timeline.
Experience equipping and running a workshop, makerspace, or prototyping facility.
A history of mentoring engineers or setting engineering culture and standards.

Nice To Haves

Experience with small precise parts, difficult materials, tight tolerances, precision motion, or optical alignment.
Hands-on electronics design (PCB layout, embedded systems, sensor/actuator integration).
Familiarity with electrophysiology or other low-volume, high-complexity hardware environments.
CAD/CAM proficiency with hands-on machining (CNC, lathe, mill) and 3D printing.
Experience integrating hardware with data acquisition systems (DAQ, TTL synchronization, serial/SPI protocols).
Graduate work or research experience.

Responsibilities

Design and build precision mechanical systems for experiments, such as titanium microfixtures, micrometer-precision electrode drives, and custom machined jigs.
Design and build components for custom microscopes and optical systems, including alignment and mounting hardware.
Design and build custom laboratory instrumentation and surgical or experimental robotics, designed and iterated alongside the scientists who depend on them.
Design and build electronics and control hardware that interface mechanical systems with data acquisition and the rest of the research stack.
Contribute to the design and prototyping facility itself: tooling, workflows, and fabrication capabilities that determine how fast the team can move.
Own complex instruments end-to-end and drive technical direction.
Help equip and run the design and prototyping facility.
Set the engineering culture and standards as the hardware team grows.
Mentor and hire engineers.
Shape what experiments are possible.