Director of Hardware (Robotics)

TL;DR

Director of Hardware (Robotics): Leading the hardware organization end-to-end to build autonomous ground handling vehicles with an accent on mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical integration. Focus on developing a certified drive-by-wire stack, optimizing sensor suites for aviation environments, and scaling production from prototypes to volume manufacturing.

Location: Onsite in South San Francisco or Atlanta

Salary: $275,000 – $350,000 + Equity

Company

hirify.global is a Series A company transforming airline ground handling through autonomous vehicle technology.

What you will do

• Own the technical direction and multi-year hardware roadmap for the vehicle platform.
• Manage a multi-disciplinary team across mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical engineering.
• Drive design-for-manufacturing (DFM) rigor to enable high-volume production.
• Develop a certified drive-by-wire solution meeting ISO 26262 / ISO 13849 standards.
• Optimize sensor suites and compute enclosures for harsh airside environments.
• Manage technical relationships with suppliers and contract manufacturers.

Requirements

• 15+ years of hands-on hardware engineering experience with shipped physical products.
• Deep technical expertise in both mechanical and electrical engineering.
• Proven experience managing multi-disciplinary hardware or robotics teams.
• Track record of taking products from architecture through pilot build to volume production.
• Expertise in electromechanical actuation systems (steering, braking, drive systems).
• Must be based in or able to work onsite in South San Francisco or Atlanta.

Nice to have

• Experience with functional-safety standards (ISO 26262, ISO 13849, IEC 61508).
• Background in commercial vehicles, industrial robotics, or aerospace ground systems.
• Firmware or embedded systems leadership experience.
• Experience with contract manufacturers at a scale of hundreds to thousands of units.

Culture & Benefits

• Opportunity to work on a real product currently in commercial operation.
• High-impact leadership role with end-to-end ownership of the vehicle platform.
• Competitive compensation package including equity.
• Direct influence on the path to removing safety drivers and scaling an autonomous fleet.