Founding Electrical Engineer

Ant-Tech; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site in SF

Six days/week

Ownership of subsystems

Rapid prototyping culture

Job summary

Ant-Tech in San Francisco seeks a hands-on Founding Electrical Engineer to lead the design and bring-up of a fully autonomous PCB fabrication machine. You will work across electronics, robotics, sensing, motion control, test & measurement, firmware, and software to take concepts to prototypes and real-world deployment.

You will own subsystems, build custom boards, and create test fixtures while solving tight micron-level tolerances in a fast-paced startup setting.

Qualifications

• Deep Electrical Engineering expertise with knowledge of circuits, signals, and failure modes.
• Hands-on experience designing, bringing up, and debugging circuit boards with discussion of performance and limitations.
• Experience at hardware/robotics/defense company producing for production and real-world use.
• Experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, signal generators, data acquisition, and custom fixtures.

Responsibilities

• Design, prototype, and bring up custom circuit boards for sensing, actuation, measurement, and control.
• Build high-accuracy test fixtures, harnesses, and instrumentation.
• Develop electrical systems for precision autonomous machines with micron-level tolerances.
• Debug complex failures across electronics, firmware, software, and mechanical systems.
• Own subsystems end-to-end from schematics to fully working systems.

Skills

Deep electrical engineering

Circuit design & debugging

Hardware systems intuition

Firmware fundamentals

Rapid prototyping

Autonomy & problem solving

Education

Electrical Engineering / Computer Science / Mechanical Engineering / Physics

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic analyzers

Power supplies

Signal generators

Data acquisition systems

Custom test fixtures

Job description

About the Role

We are looking for a Founding Electrical Engineer to join an early-stage engineering team developing a fully autonomous PCB fabrication machine.

You will work across electronics, robotics, sensing, motion control, test & measurement, firmware, and software, taking systems from initial concepts through prototyping, debugging, and real-world deployment.

• Design, prototype, and bring up custom circuit boards for sensing, actuation, measurement, and control.
• Build high-accuracy test fixtures, harnesses, and instrumentation.
• Develop electrical systems for precision autonomous machines operating at micron-level tolerances.
• Debug complex failures across electronics, firmware, software, and mechanical systems.
• Build an agentic/AI harness for the PCB fabrication machine.
• Own subsystems end-to-end, from circuit schematics, system architecture, and test plans to fully working systems.

Requirements

• Deep Electrical Engineering expertise is essential, with strong knowledge of circuits, signals, and failure modes.
• Hands‑on experience designing, bringing up, and debugging circuit boards, with the ability to discuss performance, accuracy, and limitations using specific technical details.
• Experience at a hardware, robotics, or defense company where products were built for production and real‑world use.
• Strong experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, signal generators, data acquisition systems, and custom test fixtures.
• Strong mechanical and systems intuition, including motors, sensors, thermal management, vibration, tolerances, grounding, noise, and packaging.
• Solid firmware/software fundamentals, with the ability to write code for hardware control, testing, and debugging.
• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• Senior/Staff-level experience at a leading hardware, robotics, or deep-tech company is highly preferred.
• 100% on-site in San Francisco.
• Six days per week is considered normal, with long working days.
• Strong ownership of subsystems and problems, rather than individual tickets.
• A highly hands‑on environment where rapid prototyping and testing are prioritized over lengthy design cycles.
• Early‑stage startup environment requiring autonomy, creativity, and strong problem‑solving skills.

This Role Is Ideal For You If:

You are a highly hands‑on Electrical Engineer who enjoys building and debugging hardware.

You have experience working on real hardware, not just prototypes or demos.

You can move comfortably between electronics, firmware, software, and mechanical systems.

You enjoy taking a problem from a blank sheet of paper to a working machine.

You want to be one of the early engineering team members building a completely new product.

Benefits

• 100% on-site in San Francisco.
• Six days per week is considered normal, with long working days.
• Strong ownership of subsystems and problems, rather than individual tickets.
• A highly hands‑on environment where rapid prototyping and testing are prioritized over lengthy design cycles.
• Early‑stage startup environment requiring autonomy, creativity, and strong problem‑solving skills.

Tasks

Location: San Francisco, USA – On-site

Employment: Full-time / Permanent

Industry: Robotics / Electronics / Hardware