Sr. Manager, Hardware Development, Fauna
About The Position
We are seeking a Sr. Manager, Hardware Development to lead full hardware development of a next-generation robot platform — a safety-certifiable system targeting aggressive cost optimization and large-scale deployment for autonomous operation. You will own mechanical, electrical, compute, and sensor hardware from architecture definition through engineering validation and into manufacturing. In this role, you will lead a multi-disciplinary hardware engineering team through some of the most challenging problems in robotics. This includes migrating to a cost-optimized compute architecture, rationalizing the sensor suite for safety certification, and executing DFM transitions that achieve high production tooling coverage. The ideal candidate has led hardware teams through full product development cycles for complex electromechanical systems, has deep experience with cost-down engineering and manufacturing scale-up, and brings either robotics, consumer electronics, or automotive safety-critical systems experience.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or a related field
- 10+ years of hardware engineering experience with at least 5 years managing multi-disciplinary hardware teams
- Experience leading full product development cycles (architecture → EVT → DVT → PVT → MP) for complex electromechanical systems
- Deep expertise in at least two of: mechanical design, electrical/power systems, embedded compute, or sensor systems
- Demonstrated experience achieving aggressive BOM cost-down targets (>50% reduction) through DFM and design optimization
- Experience with manufacturing scale-up from prototype to 1,000+ unit volumes
- Experience managing relationships with contract manufacturers, component suppliers, and test labs
Nice To Haves
- Master's degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or a related field
- Experience in robotics, autonomous vehicles, drones, prosthetics, or other articulated electromechanical systems
- Experience with functional safety standards (ISO 13482, ISO 12100, IEC 61508) and safety-certifiable architecture design
- Background in compute platform development or SoC integration (ARM-based, edge AI accelerators)
- Experience with advanced manufacturing processes: die casting, injection molding, PCBA, battery pack assembly
- Track record managing 20+ person hardware teams across multiple engineering disciplines
- Experience with actuator development (brushless motors, gearboxes, force/torque sensing)
- Familiarity with robotics sensor suites (stereo vision, ToF, IMU, tactile, etc.)
- Experience building hardware development centers or labs from scratch
- Knowledge of battery certification and compliance for consumer electronics (UL, IEC 62133)
Responsibilities
- Lead the complete hardware development of the next-generation platform from architecture through mass production, managing mechanical, electrical, compute, and sensor subsystem teams
- Drive compute architecture migration to a cost-optimized, safety-certifiable platform — owning chip selection, carrier board design, and thermal management
- Define and execute sensor suite optimization that meets safety certification requirements while achieving cost targets
- Own the mechanical design evolution: lighter weight structure, injection molded/die cast/stamped components, and assembly design for manufacturing efficiency
- Achieve aggressive BOM cost reduction (>50% from current platform) through DFM execution, supplier negotiations, and design trade-offs
- Lead safety architecture hardware implementation including redundant systems, functional safety concepts, and compliance with home-use safety standards
- Manage manufacturing bring-up with contract manufacturer support, targeting thousands of units
- Drive reliability and durability testing program ensuring robots survive sustained autonomous operation in uncontrolled environments
- Build, mentor, and manage a hardware engineering team across actuators, sensors, compute, battery/power, and mechanical design
- Coordinate with software and science teams to ensure hardware decisions support the autonomous software stack (compute budget, sensor placement, latency requirements)
- Own the battery and charging system development for extended autonomous operation
- Manage hardware development schedule, risk register, and resource allocation across parallel workstreams
Benefits
- health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage)
- 401(k) matching
- paid time off
- parental leave
- sign-on payments
- restricted stock units (RSUs)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
