Senior Research Engineer (Onsite/Hybrid)
About The Position
The Senior Research Engineer will drive the design, development, and deployment of subsurface imaging hardware, including muon projects with high-energy physics detectors and seismic measurements with seismometers. The role owns the mechanical and electrical systems of new imaging instruments across their full technical lifecycle, from concept and prototyping through validation, manufacturing, and field deployment. The engineer will work with data scientists, engineers, and geoscientists to create instrumentation that produces high-quality datasets for KoBold’s mineral exploration machine-learning models, and will contribute to a growing hardware development team and discipline. The role reports to the Head of Subsurface Imaging. It is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and requires the ability to work from the Berkeley, California office on any given day of the week. Domestic and international travel is required 20–30% of the time and may include remote field sites and trips lasting three or more weeks.
Requirements
- Track record developing and deploying complex, state-of-the-art scientific instruments; approximately five years of experience after a Ph.D., or correspondingly more experience after a bachelor’s or master’s degree.
- Experience deploying and supporting complex equipment at remote sites, including commissioning, validation, training, and monitoring.
- Ability to take on technical lead, project manager, product manager, and hands-on engineering responsibilities.
- Excellent communication skills in a highly interdisciplinary workplace.
- Extensive experience executing end-to-end technical product development from concept through testing and deployment.
- Experience with physical measurement and data analysis systems.
- Ability to apply scientific knowledge to identify and prototype emerging technologies.
- Experience with automation, systems integration, and data acquisition.
- Mechanical or electrical design experience for scientific instruments and experience processing measured signals.
- Experience selecting and managing vendors and third-party contractors.
- Ability and desire to own and take responsibility for large projects.
- Motivation to learn continuously and drive insights and innovations.
- Ability to explain technical problems and collaborate on solutions with domain experts who are not hardware specialists.
- Comfort working in a dynamic, fast-growing early-stage company and taking on a range of responsibilities.
- Ability to prioritize multiple tasks independently and effectively.
- Solutions-oriented, positive, and collaborative approach.
- Valid passport and willingness to travel to Mingomba or exploration sites around the world.
- Ability to work out of the Berkeley, California office on any given day of the week.
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally 20–30% of the time, including to remote field sites and on trips that may extend to three or more weeks.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in product management for scientific hardware.
- Experience with particle detectors, optics, and electronics.
- Experience with seismic, acoustic, or other geophysical instrumentation.
- Intellectual curiosity and eagerness to learn about mineral exploration, particularly geology, and willingness to work directly with geologists in the field.
- Strong communication skills and enjoyment of working with colleagues across the company.
- Interest in identifying the technical products that best achieve business objectives, in addition to building technology.
Responsibilities
- Own technical development of mechanical and electrical systems for novel sensing and imaging instruments, from concept and prototype through deployment at remote field sites.
- Coordinate internal and external hardware and software engineering resources to deliver projects.
- Contribute to system architecture, researching and analyzing technical tradeoffs involving cost, complexity, and timelines.
- Collaborate with data systems and exploration teams to integrate new data streams into KoBold’s proprietary data system and ensure they are usable for exploration projects.
- Develop an understanding of mineral exploration science and operations to ensure systems and generated data meet user needs and field requirements.
- Build partnerships and source and contract with service providers and vendors to develop hardware solutions for exploration needs.
- Create product plans and mechanical and electrical designs from concept through prototyping and production.
- Contribute engineering expertise, analysis, and design to hardware projects across KoBold.
- Help develop KoBold’s hardware development tools and processes.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
