About the roleWe're looking for an Electrical Engineer to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics reads and controls its machines. This is intentionally an end-to-end ownership role. You'll own electrical hardware design from concept to working system while partnering closely with mechanical and software teams on whatever is highest leverage at any given moment. This is a role for someone who loves bringing hard problems to life: you'll see a thorny instrumentation or controls challenge, research the right approach, design the electronics, and debug it until it works. You'll touch every machine we build, which means real ownership and room to grow quickly. The impact is significant: the electronics you design become the nervous system of our robots, and the control interfaces you build let the whole team move faster.
Responsibilities- Own electrical hardware design end-to-end: partner with mechanical engineers on instrumentation and actuation solutions, build out electronics systems using custom PCBs or off-the-shelf industrial components to read and control the machine, and debug the system and write firmware to give the software team a solid control interface
- Own hard problems: research and develop solutions to a wide range of challenging electrical instrumentation and controls problems, then bring them to life
- Own documentation and compatibility: maintain up-to-date documentation in a fast-iterating design environment, and help ensure compatibility across mechanical and software teams
- Design and debug industrial automation electronics and PCBs
Minimum Qualifications- Background in electrical controls engineering
- PCB design experience
- 1-4 years of electrical design experience (exceptional new grads with strong project or internship experience are welcome to apply)
- An obsession with quality: driven to see projects not just done, but done well
- Prior design work you're proud of: products, internal projects, student teams, etc.
- Initiative and self-direction, with creative problem-solving and the ability to debug thorny issues that span multiple systems
- A strong robotics and electrical generalist who thrives through continuous learning
- Able to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days/week (6 days/week if needed during crunch time), embedded in the team
Preferred Qualifications- Experience at a hardware, robotics, or industrial automation company
- Firmware development experience (embedded C/C++, motor control, communication protocols)
- Comfort using AI tools to multiply your own output
