Lead Electrical Engineer

Stealth Startup; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

401(k) with match

PTO

Parental leave

Hardware budget

Job summary

Stealth Startup in San Francisco is seeking a Lead Electrical Engineer to own end‑to‑end hardware design for wearable consumer electronics. This hands‑on technical lead role involves architecture, prototyping, validation, and cross‑functional collaboration with software, firmware, mechanical, and procurement.

You will mentor engineers, drive hardware roadmaps, ensure regulatory compliance (FCC/CE), and deliver robust boards from concept to production in a fast‑paced startup environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
• 5+ years owning and delivering complex EE designs.
• 2+ years leading cross‑functional projects across computing, electrical systems, sensors, power, firmware.
• Strong foundation across analog, digital, power and mixed‑signal PCB design.
• Hands‑on prototype bring‑up, debug and functional verification with lab instruments and soldering.

Responsibilities

• Own project‑level electrical design as hands‑on technical lead; partner with mechanical and FPGA on longer term architecture.
• Schematic capture and ownership of PCB layout, including FPGA integration and component selection.
• Hands‑on PCBA design and bring‑up: component selection, schematic, layout, assembly, bring‑up, test/debug, and integration into larger systems.
• Define hardware roadmaps, architectures, trade‑offs, specifications, development plans, and evaluation methods for wearable electronics.
• Lead cross‑functional design reviews and resolve technical conflicts across mechanical, firmware, verification, industrialization and procurement.
• Own bring‑up and debug, drive root‑cause investigations on production and field failures, and close them with validated design changes.
• Contribute to hardware process and tool flow definition, hardware vendor engagement, and management.
• Own regulatory and compliance strategy with FCC, ISED, CE and applicable EMC, radio and electrical safety standards with test partners.
• Mentor and coach engineers, and set the bar high for the team's electrical design standards.

Skills

Electrical design

PCB layout

Schematic capture

FPGA collaboration

Wearable electronics

Lab testing

Firmware collaboration

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium

Cadence

SPICE

Job description

Our stealth startup is looking for a Lead Electrical Engineer to develop and ship next generation consumer hardware. This is a hands‑on technical lead role: you will own the electrical design end to end and lead cross‑functional teams through design, integration, qualification and production. You will follow the system or complete subsystems through concept, architecture, prototyping, evaluation, and refinement stages. This requires hands‑on EE skills with the breadth to cover any subsystems, including high‑level direction, partner management, and Software/Firmware/RF collaboration.

Your role

• Own project‑level electrical design as a hands‑on technical lead; make the hardware design calls independently, and partner with mechanical and FPGA on longer term architecture.
• Schematic capture and ownership of PCB layout for the electrical system, including FPGA integration and component selection.
• Hands‑on PCBA design and bring‑up: component selection, schematic, layout, assembly, bring‑up, test/debug, and integration into larger systems.
• Define hardware roadmaps, architectures, trade‑offs, specifications, development plans, and evaluation methods for wearable electronics.
• Author detailed engineering requirements specifications, and lead cross‑functional design reviews by resolving technical conflicts across mechanical, firmware, verification, industrialization and procurement.
• Own bring‑up and debug, drive root‑cause investigations on production and field failures, and close them with validated design changes rather than workarounds.
• Contribute to hardware process and tool flow definition, hardware vendor engagement, and management.
• Own regulatory and compliance strategy with FCC, ISED, CE and applicable EMC, radio and electrical safety standards working with our test partners.
• Mentor and coach engineers, and set the bar high for the team's electrical design standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of experience owning and delivering complex EE designs.
• 2+ years of experience leading & delivering complex projects encompassing computing, electrical systems, sensors, power, mechanical, and firmware.
• Strong foundation across analog, digital, power and mixed‑signal PCB design.
• Hands‑on prototype bring‑up, debug and functional verification, with strong lab instincts in oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, VNA, signal generator, and confident soldering and rework skills at fine pitch.
• Experience developing and shipping a wearable product, including machine perception or machine learning‑powered features, with challenging power and form factor constraints.
• Proficiency with industry‑standard ECAD and simulation tools (Altium, Cadence, SPICE or similar).
• Familiar with firmware development and comfortable with independent basic bring‑up and debug code.
• A track record of working closely with mechanical engineering, firmware, PCB layout and DFM.
• Demonstrated technical leadership: leading or mentoring engineers and driving execution through others while remaining the last line of technical review.
• Passion for learning, and experimentation evidenced by side projects or learning endeavors.
• BS or MS in EE or equivalent.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience selecting and guiding partners to augment development speed/bandwidth.
• Familiarity with machine learning algorithms, data collection, and hardware acceleration.
• Experience in a startup or research organization.

Compensation and benefits

• Base salary is set within a posted range plus equity and depends on skills, qualifications, experience and location. *[$175K - $280K]*
• We offer comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, a 401(k) with match, PTO, paid parental leave, and a hardware budget that assumes you will break things on purpose.

How we work

• This is a fully on‑site role based in San Francisco, we are in the office together five days a week.
• The hardware, the lab and the bench are here, and so is the team.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.