Electrical Engineer, Driver Design & Motor Control

foundation-robotics; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Vision

Dental

401k

Equity

Job summary

Foundation is seeking a Senior Electrical Engineer for the Humanoid Hands Team in San Francisco to design motor driver circuits, embedded systems, and PCBs that enable dexterous manipulation. Experience with hands-on hardware and tight spec compliance is essential.

You will own end-to-end hardware design, collaborate with firmware, and drive production-ready improvements while mentoring juniors. A strong passion for building new hardware is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Strong motor driver and embedded systems expertise for compact, high-reliability hardware.
• Experience designing embedded systems (MCUs, DSPs, FPGAs) in demanding environments.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end PCB design for robotic hand controllers including schematics, layout, and BOM selection.
• Design and develop motor driver and motor controller circuits for various motors used in hand joints.
• Evaluate and integrate motor driver ICs and power stages including gate drivers, H-bridges, and FOC controllers.
• Develop custom force and tactile sensors with aggressive size and reliability requirements.
• Design embedded systems and mixed-signal circuits (MCUs, FPGAs, sensors, power, communications).
• Perform board bring-up, validation, and debugging.
• Guide junior engineers and review schematic and layout work.
• Interface with firmware engineers to define board-level APIs and support hardware abstraction.
• Drive DFM, DFT, and EMC improvements as designs move to production.

Skills

Motor driver

Embedded systems

High-reliability hardware

Debugging

Mentorship

Signal integrity basics

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium Designer

KiCad

Cadence

JTAG

Job description

Foundation is developing the future of general purpose robotics with the goal to address the labor shortage.

Our mission is to create advanced robots that can operate in complex environments, reducing human risk in conflict zones and enhancing efficiency in labor-intensive industries.

We are on the lookout for extraordinary engineers and scientists to join our team. Your previous experience in robotics isn't a prerequisite — it's your talent and determination that truly count.

We expect that many of our team members will bring diverse perspectives from various industries and fields. We are looking for individuals with a proven record of exceptional ability and a history of creating things that work.

Our Culture

We like to be frank and honest about who we are, so that people can decide for themselves if this is a culture they resonate with. Please read more about our culture here https://foundation.bot/culture.

Who should join:

• You like working in person with a team in San Francisco.
• You deeply believe that this is the most important mission for humanity and needs to happen yesterday.
• You are highly technical - regardless of the role you are in. We are building technology; you need to understand technology well.
• You care about aesthetics and design inside out. If it's not the best product ever, it bothers you, and you need to “fix” it.
• You don't need someone to motivate you; you get things done.

Why We Are Hiring

We are taking on one of the hardest unsolved problems in robotics: building hands that actually work like human hands. As a Senior Electrical Engineer on our Humanoid Hands Team you will design the motor driver circuits, embedded systems, and custom PCBs that bring true dexterous manipulation to life in the real world. Humanoid or robotic hand experience is not required, what matters is strong motor driver and embedded systems expertise and a passion for building hardware that has never existed before.

What You Will Do:

• Own end-to-end PCB design for robotic hand controllers including schematics, layout, and BOM selection.
• Design and develop motor driver and motor controller circuits for BLDC, brushed, and stepper motors used in hand joints and tendon-driven systems.
• Evaluate and integrate motor driver ICs and power stages including gate drivers, H-bridges, and FOC controllers.
• Develop custom force and tactile sensors with aggressive size and reliability requirements.
• Design embedded systems and mixed-signal circuits (MCUs, FPGAs, sensors, power, communications).
• Perform board bring-up, validation, and debugging.
• Guide junior engineers and review schematic and layout work.
• Interface with firmware engineers to define board-level APIs and support hardware abstraction.
• Drive DFM, DFT, and EMC improvements as designs move to production.

What We Are Looking For:

• Strong motor driver and embedded systems background is what matters most. Robotics or humanoid experience is a plus but absolutely not required — we welcome engineers from aerospace, medical devices, automotive, defense, or any field where you have designed high-reliability compact hardware.
• Proven track record designing embedded systems (MCUs, DSPs, or FPGAs) in compact, high-reliability environments.
• Hands-on experience designing motor driver and motor controller circuits including gate drivers, H-bridge topologies, FOC controllers, and power stage design for BLDC, brushed, or stepper motors.
• Experience with sensor integration (IMUs, force/tactile, encoders), motor control, and power electronics.
• Strong debugging skills with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG tools.
• Proficiency in Altium Designer, KiCad, or Cadence.
• Solid understanding of signal integrity, thermal management, and power distribution for compact electronics.
• Familiarity with firmware interactions and embedded C/C++ is a plus.
• Exposure to safety standards (IEC, ISO) and EMI/EMC compliance testing.
• Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering or related field.

Benefits

• We provide market standard benefits (health, vision, dental, 401k, etc.) and equity. Join us for the culture and the mission, not for the benefits.

Salary

• The annual compensation is expected to be between $180,000 - $300,000. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location.