Staff Electrical Engineer (Actuators)

Foundation • San Francisco, CA

1d

About The Position

At Foundation, we're building a world-class in-house actuator organization to define the next generation of robotic performance. This is a rare opportunity to help architect the motors, controllers, and electrical systems that will power every robot we build. As our founding electrical engineer for actuators, you'll own the electrical architecture from concept through production, driving efficiency, reliability, manufacturability, and system performance. You'll touch motor controls, power electronics, embedded systems, sensing, and hardware integration to create highly optimized actuator platforms rather than individual products. This role combines deep hands-on engineering with technical leadership, helping establish the electrical foundation, engineering standards, and technical direction of a rapidly growing actuator team. You'll collaborate closely with mechanical, controls, firmware, and manufacturing engineers to rapidly prototype, validate, and industrialize new actuator technologies at scale.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional or equivalent experience in motor controls, power electronics, or related fields
• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or related field.
• Experience designing motor controllers or other power electronics for precision applications, preferably in robotics or advanced automation
• Strong understanding of inverter circuit and topology design, current sensing, and control algorithms.
• Deep proficiency in building embedded architectures, from silicon and SoC selection to low-level firmware and integration of hardware and software.
• Experience with thermal and electrical efficiency optimization in high-performance systems.
• Comfortable working with simulation tools for control systems (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink) and circuit design (e.g., Altium, LTspice).
• Demonstrated collaboration with cross-disciplinary teams to integrate overall robotic systems.

Nice To Haves

• A Ph.D. or equivalent experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own the electrical architecture from concept through production, driving efficiency, reliability, manufacturability, and system performance.
• Touch motor controls, power electronics, embedded systems, sensing, and hardware integration to create highly optimized actuator platforms.
• Establish the electrical foundation, engineering standards, and technical direction of a rapidly growing actuator team.
• Collaborate closely with mechanical, controls, firmware, and manufacturing engineers to rapidly prototype, validate, and industrialize new actuator technologies at scale.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior