Principal Hardware Engineer, Mechatronics Bengaluru · Full-time →

Dognosis; Bengaluru; Hybrid; INR 2,500,000 - 4,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance (Plum)

Flexible hours

Work-from-home days

Gym allowance ₹10,000/yr

Job summary

Dognosis is building brain-computer interfaces, wearable sensors, robotic platforms, and AI models to scale canine olfaction. SniffSpace aims to move from hundreds to thousands of breath samples daily, with hardware platforms and Canine BCI systems deployed globally.

You will lead the hardware team, own system design, and drive production from prototype through manufacturing, ensuring reliability in field conditions and across vendors.

Qualifications

• 5–7 years hardware engineering experience.
• Experience leading engineers and cross-functional teams.
• Proven ability to take prototypes to production at scale.

Responsibilities

• Lead hardware system design for scalable platforms.
• Oversee reliability across tolerances, materials and failure modes.
• Drive designs from prototype to manufacturing and vendor development.

Skills

Hardware engineering

Robotics

System design

Leadership

Firmware

Mechanical/electronics

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Raspberry Pi

ESP32

PCB design

3D printing

CNC

Laser cutting

Vendor management

Job description

SniffSpace is how we present breath samples to detection dogs, and it needs to go from hundreds of samples a day to thousands, from one platform to tens around the world.

Dognosis is a deeptech company devoted to unleashing the superpowers of humanity's best friends. We build brain-computer interfaces, wearable sensors, robotic platforms and AI models to standardise, scale and augment canine olfaction. Our focus is a breath-based multi-cancer test that triages risk at population scale, so early cancer detection can reach everyone. Our mission is informed peace of mind for people and their companions, through interspecies technology that makes medicine truly proactive. We are based in Bengaluru, India, backed by Boost VC and 1517 Fund, selected for the Accel and Prosus Atoms X LeapTech cohort, and we work with healthcare and research institutions across India, the UK and the US.

We think from first principles, question the status quo, take responsibility, move fast and keep bureaucracy to a minimum. If you are new to startups, you may find the constant contact with reality, and the freedom to act on it, refreshing.

About the role

SniffSpace is how we present breath samples to detection dogs, and it needs to go from hundreds of samples a day to thousands, from one platform to tens deployed worldwide. You will build the systems that make that leap, and lead the hardware team that builds alongside you.

The SystemOur hardware spans automated sample-presentation platforms, an 8-channel canine BCI (DogSense), and sensor-rich rigs running on Raspberry Pi, ESP32, and custom PCBs. We prototype in-house with 3D printing, CNC, and laser cutting, manage 600+ vendor parts, and run linear actuators, servo systems, vacuum, and latch mechanisms under real reliability constraints.

What You Will Do

• Take SniffSpace from hundreds of samples a day to thousands, and from one platform to tens deployed worldwide.
• Design novel systems to capture, manage, and present breath samples to detection dogs with repeatable precision.
• Own reliability across tolerances, materials, and failure modes, so platforms hold up in the field.
• Lead the hardware team, setting technical direction and raising the engineering bar.
• Drive designs from prototype through manufacturing, vendor development, and deployment.

What Success Looks Like (6 Months)

• SniffSpace throughput has climbed towards thousands of samples a day on a hardened platform.
• A repeatable build and deployment process brings new platforms online in weeks, not months.
• The hardware team ships on a predictable cadence with you setting direction.

You Are a Good Fit If

• You have built and scaled reliable robotic or industrial-grade systems from prototype to production.
• You have 5 to 7 years or more of hardware engineering, with some experience leading engineers.
• You think in tolerances, failure modes, and margins, and design for the field, not the bench.
• You move comfortably across mechanical, electronics, and firmware boundaries.
• You want to own a platform end to end rather than one subsystem.

Valuable but Not Required

• You have worked in health, space, or precision manufacturing where the margin of error is low.
• You have set up manufacturing and vendor pipelines from scratch.
• You have built systems that run autonomously in the field.

What You Will Get

• Ownership of the physical systems behind a test published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and covered in the international science press.
• Hardware decisions that directly shape whether cancer gets caught early, at population scale.
• A small, interdisciplinary team spanning engineers, scientists, clinicians, and working detection dogs. The office is never boring.
• Health insurance for you, through Plum.
• Flexible hours, and work-from-home days where the role allows.
• Up to ₹10,000 a year towards a gym, a sport or any regular fitness activity.