Principal Hardware Engineer
About The Position
Prime Robotics is looking for an experienced Principal Hardware Engineer who works across three modes depending on where the urgency is: fix, build, and design. Fix: Our robots are in warehouses now, running real operations. We have reached the point where we are moving from reactive fixes to root cause engineering, and we need someone to lead that shift. You will own reliability at the engineering level. That means working directly with field technicians to understand what is breaking, diagnosing why it is breaking, and driving changes that prevent it from happening again. The problems are primarily electrical: wiring, grounding, PCB robustness, and power systems. There is real, meaningful work here for someone who wants to leave a clear mark on a hardware product. Build: We are actively building robots right now, including nearly 50-unit deployment in a freezer environment. Build quality and electrical integrity on robots coming out of Denver production is part of your scope. Design: You will work directly with our China engineering team to improve PCB and electrical system designs: grounding schemes, EMI resilience, connector selection, and environmental sealing. The goal is a fleet that stays running in real warehouse conditions, not just hardware that passes a bench test. This is a hands-on role where you’ll be expected to do engineering work.
Requirements
- Deep electrical systems fluency, wiring, grounding, PCB-level diagnosis, power systems, EMI. This is the core technical requirement for this role.
- Experience with autonomous robots or complex electromechanical systems deployed in real-world environments, not just lab or prototype work .
- Ability to sit down with a field technician, understand what they are seeing, and make good engineering judgments about root cause and priority.
- Hands-on orientation, you are comfortable doing the work yourself, not just reviewing others' work.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with robots operating in harsh environments: temperature extremes, dust, vibration, and wet conditions.
- Background in designing for reliability, not just performance, connector selection, harness design, grounding schemes, environmental sealing.
- Familiarity with AMR or AGV systems: navigation, motor control, sensor integration.
- Experience working with Chinese engineering and manufacturing teams, understanding the culture and how to drive results across time zones is a genuine advantage.
- Design-for-manufacturing mindset: you think about how a design will be built and serviced, not just how it will perform.
Responsibilities
- Work alongside field technicians to understand what is failing, in what conditions, and how often, they are your primary source of signal.
- Diagnose complex electrical failures: wiring faults, grounding problems, PCB issues, power system failures, sensor degradation in harsh environments.
- Prioritize which failures matter most to customer uptime and drive the engineering decisions that fix them at the root.
- Establish diagnostic standards and repair methodology the field team can execute consistently.
- Track bad-fix rates and first-visit resolution; use that data to drive design improvements.
- Own electrical quality on robots being built in Denver, wiring standards, grounding practices, inspection criteria.
- Support the Arctic RackBot build for freezer deployment: ensure electrical systems are robust for -10°F continuous operation.
- Work with assemblers to catch issues during build rather than after deployment.
- Partner with our China R&D team to improve PCB designs for robustness, this is one of the highest-leverage things we can do for long-term fleet reliability.
- Drive design improvements in wiring harnesses, connector choices, grounding architecture, and environmental protection.
- Contribute to next-generation robot variants including RackBot 2.0 and MobilePallet improvements .
- Apply design-for-reliability thinking, reduce failure modes before robots ship rather than fixing them in the field.
- Lead our international engineering team on hardware development, this requires regular evening availability to overlap with China time zones.
- Bridge the gap between what the field is experiencing and what the China team is designing; you are the translation layer.
- Review and provide feedback on designs coming from China with a reliability and field-serviceability lens.
Benefits
- Employer-subsidized medical, dental, and vision insurance plans to support your health and wellbeing.
- Dedicated vacation and sick leave that allows you to recharge and take care of yourself when needed.
- Invaluable hands-on experience with cutting-edge robotics technology that keeps your skills at the industry forefront.
- A collaborative culture where innovation thrives and your work has a real impact.
- The excitement of contributing to transformative technology in a fast-growing industry.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
Education Level
No Education Listed
