Founding Robotics Hardware Engineer

A three-person robotics startup in San Francisco, backed by Accel and a16z, is hiring its first dedicated hardware engineer. They build their own robots and train their own models to automate electronics manufacturing in the US, and are raising their next round soon.

What you'd own

Parts from first sketch to the factory floor, with no handoffs. You'd start with robotic end effectors, then move on to full robot systems and integrating them on customer sites. Expect roughly half your time in CAD and half building, testing and breaking things yourself, including your own test fixtures and working with suppliers as volumes grow from prototypes to thousands.

This is for you if

- You've worked hands-on with real robot hardware: manipulators, grippers, drones or autonomous vehicles

- You've taken something you designed all the way through prototyping, testing and manufacturing yourself

- You build things outside work (send them all, quantity counts here)

- You have 1 to 5 years of experience at a startup or fast-moving hardware company

- You're strong in mechanical CAD, tolerancing, material selection and manufacturing processes

Probably not for you if

Your work has mostly been CAD handed off to another team, consulting-style engineering, or a narrow research specialism.

The practical bits

- $150K to $250K base plus 0.1% to 1% equity

- On-site in Potrero Hill, San Francisco, five days a week plus Saturdays when needed

- Some of the work is defense, so you need to be comfortable with that

- Visa transfers supported

To apply, send your CV plus links or photos of what you've built.