Actuator Team Lead

Foundation; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Foundation in San Francisco seeks an Actuator Lead to drive the design and development of advanced actuators for the Phantom platform. You will head a cross-functional team spanning electrical systems, motor design, geartrains, controls, and electronics to push performance and manufacturability.

The role demands hands-on technical leadership, deep IC design experience in motor/actuator systems, and a bias for action in agile, startup-like operations.

Qualifications

• Hands-on leadership with actuator or motor design.
• Experience in robotics, automotive, or aerospace contexts is a plus.
• Collaborates across mechanical, electrical, firmware, and sourcing teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead a cross-functional team spanning electrical systems, motor design, geartrain, controls and electronics.
• Create new actuator architectures via rapid prototyping and modeling.
• Drive design optimization, manufacturability, and key performance metrics.

Skills

IC design experience

Motor/actuator systems

Controller development

Gearbox optimization

Embedded firmware

Communication protocols

Sensor integration

Packaging

3D CAD

Simulation (FEA)

MATLAB

ANSYS

GD&T

Tolerance analysis

Technical communication

Tools

MATLAB

ANSYS

Job description

Why We Are Hiring For This Role:

• At Foundation, we’re pushing the bounds on actuator technology that is the backbone of the Phantom platform.
• As we rapidly scale to meet demand, we’re looking for an actuator lead that can build on our existing work and continue to improve efficiency, torque density, manufacturability, and other key performance metrics.
• The actuator lead will build and lead a cross-functional team spanning electrical systems, motor design, geartrain, controls, and electronics disciplines.
• This team will not only focus on current design optimization but also create new actuator architectures through rapid prototyping and modeling.

What Kind of Person Are We Looking For:

• A hands-on technical leader with strong IC design experience in motor/actuator systems for robotics, automotive, or aerospace (bonus if done in the context of high volume manufacturing)..
• Robust understanding of electromechanical actuators, with skills in controller development, gearbox optimization, embedded firmware, communication protocols, sensor integration, and packaging.
• A leader that is ready to dive into technical details and challenges related to mechanical, electrical, firmware, controls, and sourcing activities.
• Mastery in 3D CAD software, simulation and analysis methodology (FEA, MATLAB, ANSYS, etc), GD&T, tolerance analysis, and technical communication.
• Zeal for agile, startup-like operations with a bias for action to guide the actuator team in transformative robotics progress across all Foundation initiatives.