Associate Engineer, Hardware Pittsburgh, PA · Contract-to-hire →

Advanced Optronics; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Early-employee equity

Health insurance

Unlimited PTO

Job summary

Advanced Optronics, a seed-stage startup in Pittsburgh, is seeking an Associate Engineer. The role blends electrical, mechanical, and software tasks across MEMS-style fabrication and testing. You’ll work hands-on on bench assembly, equipment maintenance, and data-driven experimentation.

You will design basic fixtures and write Python scripts to automate parts of manufacturing, while learning the entire production flow and documenting procedures for scalable processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in any engineering, physics, or related field.
• Hands-on hardware experience in a lab, senior design, or project setting.
• Broad experience across electronics, CAD/3D printing, chemical lab work, test equipment, and software (C/C++/Python).
• Ability to debug, root-cause issues, and follow detailed protocols to document work.

Responsibilities

• Build devices at the bench, align and bond microscopic parts, and package finished devices.
• Run and maintain line equipment (pick-and-place, dispensing).
• Test devices with bench tools and analyze results to isolate process variations.
• Learn the full production process and run small experiments, recording outcomes in SOPs.
• Design and 3D print jigs/fixtures for manufacturing and testing.
• Write Python scripts for automation, motion control, and data collection.
• Present updates to the team and contribute to design/process decisions.

Skills

Electronics

CAD & 3D printing

Lab techniques

Test equipment

Programming

Education

Bachelor or Master in engineering/physics

Tools

LCR meter

Oscilloscope

Multimeter

Potentiostat

Job description

What we’re building

Are you ready to help develop a new medical sensor technology from the ground up? We are a seed-stage startup that builds microscopic medical sensors 10× thinner than a human hair that go inside life-changing medical devices. Our thin-film capacitive sensors let a medical device measure flexure and contact forces on tissue. Our first application is cochlear implant electrodes to address hearing loss. We are fully integrated and do all of our design, fabrication, and testing in-house.

The role

Associate Engineer is the early-career position at AO. Our team is interdisciplinary, with backgrounds in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Software, Mechanical Engineering, Microfabrication, and Biomedical Engineering. We are looking for great interdisciplinary engineers like ourselves. This is a generalist role for someone with a broad skill set across these fields. The work is hands-on: setting up and debugging manufacturing and test equipment, and running production steps while performing experiments to improve them. The work changes week to week, and you will also need to be able to pick up new skills to tackle problems, whether that’s designing a mechanical part, developing a testing protocol, or performing data analysis. When something breaks, you get to the root cause of what’s wrong and design a fix. You should enjoy taking things apart to see how they work.

What you’ll do

• Build devices at the bench: align and bond microscopic parts under a camera-mounted microscope or robotic pick-and-place, injection mold silicone electrodes, and package finished devices.
• Run and maintain our line equipment, including the pick-and-place and dispensing systems.
• Test devices with bench electrical tools (e.g., LCR meter, potentiostat), and work with senior engineers to analyze results across process parameters to isolate problems.
• Learn the entire production process and run small experiments that change one variable at a time, and write what works into the SOP.
• Design and 3D print jigs and fixtures to assist with manufacturing and testing.
• Write Python scripts, including motion control and computer vision, to automate manufacturing processes, data collection, and analysis.
• Turn your results into clear updates for the team, and weigh in on design and process decisions.

What we’re looking for

• Degree: Bachelor’s or Master’s in any engineering discipline, physics, or a related field.
• Hands-on work: You have built hardware in a research lab, in a senior design project, on a competition team, or on your own.
• Breadth: Hands-on experience across several of the following: electronics and soldering, CAD and 3D printing, chemical lab work and safety, test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, LCR meters), and software (C/C++/Python).
• Debugging: You’re good at figuring out what’s wrong when something breaks. You can connect a failure to a likely cause and design a test that isolates it.
• Adaptability: You take ownership of problems outside your training and learn what you need to solve them.
• Procedures: You can follow a detailed protocol exactly and document your work. You can also write an SOP someone else can follow.
• Data: You can analyze process and test data and perform statistical tests in Python or Excel to find trends and compare process variants.

Nice to have

• Electronics tinkering on your own circuits, boards, or microcontroller projects (e.g., Arduino, ESP32).
• Silicone or PDMS molding, adhesives, or epoxies.
• Wet lab work.

What we value

• Agency: Spot a problem and take it on.
• Curiosity: When something looks off, dig until you find the cause.
• Care: Take pride in the work and don’t cut corners. These sensors are built for devices that go into patients.
• Pragmatism: Build the simplest thing that answers the question, then improve it.
• Clarity: Explain what you saw, what you think caused it, and what you’d try next.

Why you’ll like it here

• Tools: You will get the budget and authority to buy the equipment and software you want. We encourage use of AI to accelerate engineering work.
• Team: You will work daily with expert engineers in MEMS, microfabrication, manufacturing, and embedded systems.
• Solve a problem that matters: We are on a mission to improve patients’ lives. Your work will have a direct and tangible impact on healthcare outcomes.
• Benefits (full-time): Early-employee equity, health insurance, and unlimited PTO.

Growth

The path is Associate Engineer (contract), then Associate Engineer (full-time), then a higher-level engineering role that fits your strengths. On a team of seven, there is constant opportunity to take on new responsibilities. You will be mentored directly by senior engineers and our scientific advisors.