Founding Electrical Engineer

Soundryx, Inc.; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Significant equity ownership

First chair responsibilities

Job summary

A tech startup in acoustic sensing is seeking a Founding Electrical Engineer in Los Angeles. You will lead the design of custom PCB microphone arrays and embedded systems, while contributing to projects critical for security. Candidates with 4-8 years of experience in embedded hardware and a willingness to obtain FAA certification are preferred. Strong ownership potential with equity offered in a rapidly growing environment.

Qualifications

• Four to eight years in electrical/embedded hardware (startup or product-ship preferred).
• Experience shipping boards with MCUs or FPGAs, high-speed digital, mixed-signal, and power.
• Willingness to obtain FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate after joining.
• Environmental/ruggedization experience (IP67/68, coatings).
• Nice-to-have: beamforming algorithms.

Responsibilities

• Lead design of a custom PCB microphone array.
• Own embedded MCU/FPGA choices and real-time audio processing pathways.
• Drive DFM/DFA, vendor selection, EVT/DVT/PVT, and production test fixtures.
• Architect battery and power systems for multi-day autonomy.
• Engineer for outdoor use: sealing, thermal, vibration, corrosion considerations.
• Collaborate with DSP/ML on HW/SW co-design; define ICDs/APIs.
• Establish early hardware processes, libraries, test plans, and ECOs.

Skills

Embedded hardware design

PCB design (Altium/KiCad)

MCU/FPGA selection

Environmental ruggedization

Battery systems integration

Tools

Altium

KiCad

Job description

Founding Electrical Engineer
(Los Angeles, ITAR-Eligible)

Soundryx builds rugged, low-cost acoustic sensors that detect small drones and other threats across vast areas.

As our Founding Electrical Engineer, you’ll design the custom PCB microphone array and power systems that anchor our platform--and you’ll be the first line ready to support US-only, export-controlled projects when they arise.

What You’ll Do

• Lead design of a custom PCB microphone array (schematic, layout, bring-up; Altium/KiCad).
• Own embedded MCU/FPGA choices and real-time audio processing pathways.
• Drive DFM/DFA, vendor selection, EVT/DVT/PVT, and production test fixtures.
• Architect battery & power systems (PMICs, charging, protections) for multi-day autonomy.
• Engineer for the outdoors: sealing, thermal, vibration, corrosion, IP-rating minded.
• Collaborate with DSP/ML on HW/SW co-design; define clean ICDs/APIs for the stack.
• Establish early hardware processes (libraries, test plans, component risk, ECOs).

What You’ve Done

• Four to eight years in electrical/embedded hardware (startup or product-ship preferred).
• Shipped boards with MCUs or FPGAs, high-speed digital, mixed-signal, and power.
• Battery integration (Li-ion/LiFePO4, charging, protections, fuel gauging).
• Environmental/ruggedization experience (IP67/68, potting, gasketing, coatings).
• Nice-to-have: Implemented beamforming algorithms.

Additional Requirements

• FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, or willingness and ability to obtain shortly after joining (we’ll reimburse and train).

Why Join Soundryx

• First chair, big canvas: You'll help push our hardware platform to new heights.
• Field-proven impact: Your hardware will help secure the world against mechanized adversaries.
• Ownership: Competitive salary + meaningful early equity.

Compensation

• Equity: 2% - 4% of the fully-diluted cap table for Soundryx, Inc. as calculated on offer grant date. The grant is offered as options on a standard four-year vesting schedule with a one-year cliff.

Export Control (ITAR-Eligibility)

WARNING

While Soundryx's commercial product is designed for broad exportability, this role may involve access to export-controlled technical data. Under US regulations, access is limited to US persons [1] .

US persons include:

• Lawful permanent residents (Green Card holders)
• Individuals granted asylum in the United States
• Individuals admitted to the United States as refugees

Soundryx is an equal opportunity employer. Some positions are limited to US Persons under export control laws.