Embedded Hardware Engineer

Phx Fwd; Phoenix, Northern (AZ, KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Swarmbotics is seeking an embedded hardware engineer to design and bring up the FireAnt main board for UGVs, including power, CAN, Ethernet, and sensor I/O. You will own mixed-signal circuit design, PCB layout, and firmware integration.

Join a fast-paced defense-tech startup, collaborate with mechanical and software teams, and help deliver robust electronics for fielded robots while meeting MIL-STD-810H requirements and security clearances.

Qualifications

• Experience designing mixed-signal and power circuits for battery-powered systems.
• PCB layout with multi-layer boards and high-current copper planning in Altium Designer.
• Embedded firmware development in C for STM32 (ARM Cortex-M) with FreeRTOS and CAN/Ethernet.

Responsibilities

• Design and bring-up of the FireAnt main board (power, motor bus, CAN, Ethernet, PoE).
• Develop embedded firmware and driver code for the board.
• Coordinate with mechanical design for PCBA integration and thermal management.
• Perform MIL-STD-810H-based testing and validation.

Skills

Circuit design

PCB layout

Power management

Embedded systems

System integration

Testing & validation

Fault management

Mechanical collaboration

Clearance eligibility

Tools

Altium Designer

Job description

Company background

Swarmbotics AI is a low-cost, swarm robotics company for industry and defense. We see a world of ubiquitous low-cost robots transforming almost all aspects of society, but we see an urgent need in the defense industry. We focus on building swarms of robots that incorporate a low-cost BOM, an autonomous stack optimized for off the shelf components, and a global planner that enables swarm capabilities for groups of robots to accomplish sophisticated tasks.

Our first product is a defense application building Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), collectively termed - Attritable, Networked, Tactical Swarm (ANTS). Each UGV in ANTS is an independently-tasked, attritable robot designed for on-demand and autonomous mobility. When operating as a swarm, ANTS is capable of executing more advanced and coordinated, high-level capabilities across a battlespace. ANTS will help solve some of the DoD’s biggest problems that will save lives and increase defense capabilities.

Stephen Houghton and Drew Watson are the Founders and have decades of experience in self-driving cars and trucks, humanoids, and UAVs with experience from NASA, JPL, Cruise, Embark, McKinsey, Amazon, and the CIA.

Job Description

Swarmbotics is on the forefront of deploying unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) swarms for defense applications and is seeking a highly skilled Embedded Hardware Engineer to join our dynamic team. This role is crucial in designing, developing, testing, and maintaining the electronic systems and components that power our unmanned ground vehicles. The engineer in this role will be responsible for design of the FireAnt's main board — the robot's single main PCBA, spanning power conversion and distribution, the high-current motor bus, an embedded microcontroller subsystem, Ethernet switching and PoE, CAN networking, and sensor and payload I/O — across its full lifecycle: requirements and architecture, circuit design and PCB layout, power management, embedded firmware, board bring-up, and support of fielded robots. The selected candidate will have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects, contributing to the development of advanced robotics systems from the ground up.

Required Qualifications

• Circuit Design: Proficiency in designing mixed-signal and power circuits for battery-powered systems — battery input and precharge, high-side MOSFET switching with gate-drive design, DC-DC conversion (buck/boost, PoE), and protection circuits (TVS, signal isolation, keyed connectors, fusing) for a motor bus.
• PCB Layout: Experience with schematic capture and multi-layer PCB layout in Altium Designer — multi-layer boards with high-current copper planning per IPC-2221/2152, IPC Class 3 manufacturing targets, high-speed routing (RGMII Ethernet, differential pairs, length matching), and design for manufacturing: releasing fab packages, writing ECOs, and managing quotes and batch quality with contract manufacturers. Experience working alongside Mechanical design teams for PCBA mechanical integration – negotiating restrictions on component placement, mounting, thermal interfaces, and designing around shock/vibe requirements.
• Power Management: Knowledge of power distribution and management for battery-powered vehicles — per-load switching and fusing, hardware-enforced power sequencing, thermal design and margin analysis.
• Embedded Systems: Experience developing the embedded firmware that runs the board — STM32 (ARM Cortex-M) in C with FreeRTOS, CAN/FDCAN, and Ethernet (lwIP), including driver-level work such as hardware PTP timestamping, plus firmware release and fleet update management.
• System Integration: Ability to integrate the board with the rest of the robot — defining CAN interfaces with the software team, designing connectors and wiring harnesses with vendors, and interfacing to compute, ESCs, GNSS, IMU, satcom, radios, and payload ports.
• Testing and Validation: Skills in board bring-up and validation — oscilloscope-level debug, bench power testing at full load, thermal testing, SMD rework, and environmental design informed by MIL-STD-810H thermal, shock, and vibration methods.
• Experience working alongside Mechanical design teams for PCBA mechanical integration. Negotiating restrictions on component placement, mounting, thermal interfaces, and designing around shock/vibe requirements.
• Fault Management: Experience designing fault detection and health telemetry (latching fault flags, temperature and current sensing reported over CAN) and root-causing field failures back to definitive design fixes.
• Comfortable working in the high-paced, fluid environment of a tech startup.
• Excited to contribute to the defense of the United States and its allies.
• Able to obtain and hold a U.S. security clearance.
• Ability to work onsite in the Phoenix, AZ area.

Preferred Qualifications

• UGV Experience: Prior work on unmanned vehicles.
• High-Reliability Electronics: Background in high-reliability electronics for military or industrial applications in harsh environments.
• Re-work: Manual board-level rework skills. Experience replacing ICs and passive components, as well as point-to-point wiring for prototype PCB rework.
• Embedded Software: Strong embedded C/C++ skills and experience with hardware-software interfacing.
• Simulation Tools: Familiarity with simulation tools such as SPICE or MATLAB.
• Time Synchronization: Experience with precision network time sync — PTP grandmaster operation, PPS/NMEA distribution, embedded Ethernet switch integration.
• Supply Chain Compliance: NDAA and country-of-origin-aware component selection, alternates sourcing, and cost-conscious BOM management.
• Harness Design: Wiring-harness design and vendor management — drawings, BOMs, ampacity requirements, first-article inspection.
• Track Record: Proven track record of designing and shipping electronics for robotics or similar products through multiple production revisions.

The preceding description is not designed to be a complete list of all duties and responsibilities required for the position. Swarmbotics is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be treated with respect and receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, caste, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, uniform service, Veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic per federal, state, or local law.