Founding Hardware & Software Engineer — Ambient Care Startup

Founders Factory; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Founders Factory in Cambridge/London is seeking the technical lead for Subtle, an ambient sensing venture helping elderly and vulnerable people at home.

You’ll be the first engineering hire, working directly with the founders and carrying real authority over what we build and how. It spans hardware and software, and you’ll grow the team that follows you, including managing manufacturing path and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

• Experience taking a hardware product from 0 to 1 in a startup.
• Experience using AI to accelerate prototyping and operations.
• Experience leading or building a small engineering team.
• Proactive, evidence-first approach in ambiguous environments.
• Experience with regulatory, security, or compliance in health-tech or safety/privacy-regulated spaces.

Responsibilities

• Own hardware validation and bench testing end-to-end, including manufacturing path decisions.
• Develop software to turn sensor data into actionable insights and alerting.
• Navigate regulatory and security requirements from day one; support CE/UKCA, FDA where applicable.
• Grow and lead the engineering team as the project scales.

Skills

Hardware experience

AI in engineering

Team leadership

Regulatory/compliance

Evidence-based

Tools

Embedded systems

Job description

Founders Factory in Cambridge/London is seeking the technical lead for Subtle, an ambient sensing venture helping elderly and vulnerable people at home.

You’ll be the first engineering hire, working directly with the founders and carrying real authority over what we build and how. It spans hardware and software, and you’ll grow the team that follows you, including managing manufacturing path and regulatory requirements.