Hardware Engineer - Electrical (Robotics)

Location: Cambridge, MA, United States; onsite

Salary: USD 126,000–358,000 per year

Company

hirify.global researches fundamental challenges in AI and robotics to develop intelligent machines, combining academic-style innovation with industry engineering resources.

What you will do

• Own robot electrical subsystems from requirements and architecture through schematic capture, PCB layout, fabrication, bring-up, validation, and deployment using COTS and custom components.
• Integrate power, sensing, actuation, computation, and communications hardware within electrical and mechanical constraints.
• Develop and debug microcontroller firmware for board bring-up, sensor interfaces, and hardware validation with embedded software engineers.
• Plan bench and on-robot testing, validate high-risk design choices, and troubleshoot electronics, firmware, cabling, and connected systems.
• Define cross-disciplinary interfaces, resolve integration issues, and make trade-offs between performance, complexity, reliability, and development time.
• Lead design reviews, document designs and test results, coordinate technical work, support teammates and co-ops, and improve hardware development practices.

Requirements

• BS in Electrical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of relevant professional experience developing electrical hardware.
• Strong electrical fundamentals and ownership of custom electronics across design, schematic capture, layout, fabrication ordering, bring-up, validation, system integration, and documentation.
• Proficiency with an electronic design tool such as Altium Designer, Cadence, or KiCad.
• Strong electromechanical debugging skills and hands-on use of oscilloscopes, power supplies, electronic loads, and other lab instrumentation, including board inspection and rework identification.
• Practical experience in at least one of analog or mixed-signal design, power electronics and motor drives, sensing, embedded systems, high-speed or wireless communications, or densely packaged robot electronics.
• Ability to collaborate across hardware and software disciplines, communicate technical trade-offs, and document designs and validation results.
• Comfort using AI tools for technical research, documentation, and routine tasks, with sound judgment when verifying outputs and protecting confidential information.

Nice to have

• Microcontroller firmware development and debugging for board bring-up, sensor interfaces, or hardware validation.
• DC-DC converters, motor-drive electronics, or battery-powered systems, including grounding, power integrity, and EMI/EMC troubleshooting.
• Ethernet, Single Pair Ethernet, wireless networking, or time synchronization in distributed embedded systems.
• Embedded Rust on STM32 or similar microcontrollers, real-time operating systems, or communication and control protocols.
• Sensor integration or analog front ends, including capacitive or tactile sensing.
• Scripting for test automation, hardware characterization, or data analysis.
• Fine-pitch SMD rework, cable harness design and assembly, or rugged electronics for shock, vibration, and repeated cable flexing.

Culture & Benefits

• Work across academia-inspired research and disciplined industry engineering to build robotics hardware.
• Collaborate with mechanical, embedded software, controls, and research teams.
• Equal employment opportunity and protection from discrimination and harassment under applicable laws.