Head of Hardware Engineering

Empathy Talent; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Empathy Talent is seeking a hands-on hardware leader to turn a research system into a compact wearable for real-world use. The role spans sensing, embedded, FPGA, and power design, with emphasis on signal quality and miniaturization.

You will own hardware architecture decisions, engage with industrial design, and drive production readiness, including regulatory prep and external manufacturing partnerships. This in-person SF role targets delivering a scalable wearable platform.

Qualifications

• Experience taking hardware from prototype to production.
• Background in physiological or biosignal sensing, robotics, AR/VR, or tightly constrained hardware systems.
• Comfort across the stack: bench debugging, schematics, firmware/FPGA collaboration, mechanical tradeoffs, external partners.

Responsibilities

• Design custom mixed-signal, sensing, compute, power, and communications electronics.
• Integrate ADCs, DACs, FPGAs, MCUs, sensor front ends, memory, and wireless systems.
• Build portable prototypes reliable for large-scale data collection.
• Miniaturize from lab hardware to wearable; aim to integrate into glasses eventually.
• Optimize signal integrity, thermals, battery life, and EMI/EMC.
• Oversee embedded firmware, acquisition pipelines, device control, logging, and updates.
• Collaborate with industrial designers and mechanical engineers on enclosure design, charging, and serviceability.
• Own component selection, BOMs, prototype builds, DFM/DFT, regulatory prep, CM, and EVT-to-production.
• Help build the hardware team and external manufacturing network.

Skills

Mixed-signal design

Sensing electronics

Firmware development

FPGA

MCU integration

Sensor front ends

BOM management

DFM/DFT

Regulatory prep

Manufacturing integration

Tools

FPGA toolchains

Job description

We’re looking for a hands-on hardware leader to take a working research system built with laboratory equipment and turn it into a reliable, compact wearable that can be used in the real world.

This is a true systems role. The hardware combines sensitive physiological sensing, mixed-signal electronics, embedded and FPGA systems, high-speed data acquisition, wireless communication, batteries, firmware, mechanical constraints, and eventually custom ASICs.

The challenge goes well beyond traditional consumer electronics. The hardware itself is part of the measurement system. Changes to cables, grounding, enclosure design, sensor positioning, power systems, or other components can directly impact signal quality and downstream models.

You’ll work closely with sensing and machine learning engineers to preserve signal quality while aggressively reducing size, power consumption, and system complexity.

What You’ll Own

• Design custom mixed-signal, sensing, compute, power, and communications electronics.
• Integrate ADCs, DACs, FPGAs, MCUs, sensor front ends, memory, and wireless systems.
• Build portable prototypes reliable enough for large-scale data collection.
• Miniaturize the system from laboratory hardware into a small wearable, with the long‑term goal of integrating the technology into glasses.
• Optimize signal integrity, noise performance, thermals, battery life, and electromagnetic compatibility.
• Write or oversee embedded firmware, acquisition pipelines, device control, logging, and update systems.
• Partner with industrial designers and mechanical engineers on enclosure design, fit, charging, and serviceability.
• Own component selection, BOMs, prototype builds, DFM, DFT, regulatory preparation, contract manufacturing, and the path from EVT through production.
• Help build the hardware team and external manufacturing network.

What We’re Looking For

You’ve ideally taken a technically difficult hardware product from an early prototype toward production.

Relevant backgrounds may include:

• Physiological or biosignal sensing
• Robotics
• AR/VR
• Other tightly constrained hardware systems

You should be comfortable working across the stack rather than owning one narrow subsystem.

That means being able to debug boards at the bench, read schematics, work closely with firmware and FPGA engineers, make mechanical tradeoffs, and manage external design and manufacturing partners.

We care much more about your ability to repeatedly make real hardware work than your previous title.

The right person can operate at both levels: making major architectural decisions while still being willing to personally track down the broken clock, noisy regulator, thermal problem, signal-integrity issue, or intermittent connector keeping a prototype from working.

Why This Role

This is an early, highly influential hardware position with significant ownership over both the immediate wearable prototype and the architecture of the eventual production product.

You won’t be optimizing one small piece of a mature device. You’ll help make foundational decisions across electronics, embedded systems, sensing, mechanical design, manufacturing, and product architecture.

The goal is to turn advanced physiological sensing technology into a small, comfortable, stable, low‑power, and manufacturable wearable.

This is a full-time, in-person position in San Francisco.