Hardware Engineer, Entry Level

BurnBot; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health, dental, and vision

Flexible paid time off

Job summary

BurnBot develops remotely operated systems for prescribed fire and heavy equipment used in challenging environments. The engineer will design parts, run tests, and iterate hardware with a hands-on team in South San Francisco.

This role involves field visits, data analysis of tests, and close collaboration with field crews to ensure rugged performance in real terrain. Strong CAD and problem-solving skills are essential.

Qualifications

• B.S. in mechanical, electrical, or mechatronics engineering or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Hands-on CAD design experience and the ability to create and edit drawings.
• Experience designing, testing, and iterating mechanical parts and subassemblies.
• Ability to analyze test data to draw clear conclusions and recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Detail design of parts and subassemblies with CAD models and drawings.
• Build test rigs, wire sensors, run tests, and document results.

Skills

CAD software

Data analysis

Shop experience

Field testing

Problem solving

Education

B.S. in mechanical, electrical, or mechatronics engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

NX

CATIA

Creo/Pro-E

Job description

Description

• Location310 Shaw Road, Suite D, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, United States
• Base Pay$115,000.00 - $150,000.00 / Year
• Employee TypeExempt (FT)

About BurnBot

Wildfire has stopped being a season. BurnBot builds the machines that get ahead of it — remotely operated systems that apply and contain prescribed fire, and platforms that clear heavy fuel on terrain that isn’t safe for crews.

Our fleet is at work today for PG&E, CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service, Caltrans, fire districts, and tribal nations across California, Oregon, and Washington — treating land at up to 40x the pace of conventional methods. We’re roboticists, engineers, and career fire practitioners. Hardware we design in South San Francisco is in the dirt within weeks, and the people who designed it are usually standing next to it.

THE ROLE

If you like machines, this is a very good place to start. Our shop builds heavy equipment that goes to work in the dirt weeks after it’s designed, and you’ll have your hands on all of it.

You’ll design real parts with a mentor, build and instrument the tests that prove them, and go out with the field team to see what the terrain does to your work.

WHAT YOU’LL OWN

• Detail design of parts and subassemblies — your own CAD models and drawings, reviewed by a senior engineer
• Test rigs and instrumentation: build the fixture, wire the sensors, run the test, write up what happened
• Builds and retrofits, in the shop and sometimes at a field site
• Documentation crews can follow — service procedures, spares lists, and assembly instructions that work at 5 a.m.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• 0–5 years of experience. New graduates are genuinely welcome here
• Working CAD ability in a major platform — SolidWorks, NX, CATIA, or Creo/Pro-E — and the willingness to live in it
• Shop instincts: you’ve built things, broken things, and fixed them
• Enough data analysis to turn a test into a conclusion
• Willingness to be outside, in the dust and heat, when that’s where the answer is
• B.S. in mechanical, electrical, or mechatronics engineering, or equivalent hands‑on experience

NICE TO HAVE

• Formula SAE, Baja, a robotics team, or anything else where you built a machine on a deadline
• Machining, welding, or fabrication skills
• Internships in heavy equipment, agriculture, automotive, or aerospace
• Basic electrical debug — harnesses, sensors, a multimeter
• An interest in wildfire, forestry, or climate work

Summary

HOW WE WORK

• Based onsite in South San Francisco — design, build, and test all happen in one building, and being near the machines is most of the point
• Flexible within that. You own your calendar: work the hours where you’re sharpest, and go remote on heads-down days.
• Expect a few days a month in the field across California, Oregon, and Washington. Watching your work run on a live burn is the best part of the job.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Base salary: $115,000 – $150,000 — final offers reflect experience and demonstrated scope.

• Equity — Incentive Stock Options
• Health, dental, and vision
• Flexible paid time off

Burnbot is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including but not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with one or more disabilities, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

If you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [phone] x 1010 or [e-mail].