Mechatronics Engineer, Robotics San Francisco Bay Area

TAR; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

TAR is developing the world’s first off-grid power plant for data centers, combining hardware and software to power GW-scale AI infrastructure. The Mechatronics engineer will own electrical integration, firmware, and drive the machine’s control systems at our San Francisco robotics facility, with field time at the GW-scale campus in West Texas.

You will collaborate with mechanical and electrical teams, select motors and sensors, implement robust safety circuits, and push performance in extreme

Qualifications

• 4+ years of electrical engineering experience in robotics or mobile/field robotic systems.
• Deep fluency in power electronics, motor control, and sensor integration in noisy environments.
• Hands-on embedded skills: firmware in C/C++ for real-time control, CAN/EtherCAT, debugging with a scope.
• Track record of taking an electromechanical system from schematic to working hardware.

Responsibilities

• Own the driver’s electrical integration and fleet architecture from the electrical team: battery, power distribution, motor controllers, safety circuits, connectors and harnessing resistant to dust, heat and vibration.
• Select and integrate motors, drives and actuators with the mechanical team, and tune motor control for locomotion and the pile-driving tool head.
• Design and build the sensing stack: encoders, IMU, load/force sensing, RTK-GNSS, and limit/proximity sensing.
• Develop embedded firmware and real-time control, including CAN bus architecture, control loops, interlocks, fault handling, telemetry and logging.
• Stand up the electrical test and bring-up process: bench testing, hardware-in-the-loop, field debugging and root-cause analysis.
• Design for the environment: EMI, thermal management in hot conditions, ingress protection, field serviceability.
• Support transition from prototype to small fleet through wire harness DFM, documentation and supplier management.

Skills

Electrical engineering

Robot control

Firmware C/C++

CAN/EtherCAT

Field robotics

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Tools

CAN bus

EtherCAT

Job description

TAR’s mission is to power intelligence for the world. We are building the world’s first off-grid power plant for data centers powered by renewable technologies.

We firmly believe AI should be built in the US for the benefit of all people. For that, power must be fast, clean and scalable. We are singularly focused on delivering GW-scale power faster than anyone has ever done, by rethinking every layer of the stack.

We vertically integrate to solve every bottleneck, from racking systems to power electronics to dispatch algorithms to on-site construction.

Leave your mark on the future of civilization-scale energy infrastructure.

Company

TAR is both a hardware and software company, we are building out massive, critical, physical infrastructure. TAR is working directly with one of the largest compute providers to scale and deploy 5GWs by 2028.

• High ownership. High Agency. Own project end-to-end. Great people don’t need to be managed.
• Speed. We achieve great things on incredible timelines. We push ourselves to go faster.
• First principles. No ego. No hierarchy. Challenge every assumption.
• Passion. Solving the energy problem is one of the largest challenges that faces the world now and in the future.

About the role

As the Mechatronics engineer you own the machine’s electrical integration and firmware: power, motor control, sensing, wiring, and the real-time control that makes a violent, vibrating piece of heavy equipment behave like a precision robot. The mechanical lead owns structure and mechanisms; the electrical engineer owns board design and fleet-wide architecture; you make it all work as one machine. This is a mid to senior level individual contributor role based at our San Francisco robotics facility, with regular field time at our GW-scale campus in West Texas.

Responsibilities

• Own the driver’s electrical integration, building on board designs and fleet architecture from the electrical engineering team: battery and power distribution, motor controllers, e-stop and safety circuits, and connectors and harnessing that survive dust, heat, and vibration.
• Select and integrate motors, drives, and actuators with the mechanical team, and tune motor control for both locomotion and the pile-driving tool head.
• Design and build the sensing stack: encoders, IMU, load and force sensing on the driving mechanism, RTK-GNSS integration, and limit and proximity sensing.
• Develop embedded firmware and real-time control, including CAN bus architecture, control loops, interlocks, fault handling, and telemetry and logging.
• Stand up the electrical test and bring-up process: bench testing, hardware-in-the-loop where it pays off, and field debugging with rigorous root-cause analysis.
• Design for the environment: EMI on a machine full of motor drives, thermal management in West Texas summers, ingress protection, and serviceability by field techs.
• Support the path from one prototype to a small fleet through wire harness DFM, documentation, and supplier management.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of electrical engineering experience, including meaningful time at a robotics company or on mobile or field robotic systems.
• Deep fluency in the electrical side of robots: power electronics, motor control (BLDC, servo, or hydraulic proportional), sensor integration, and signal integrity in noisy environments.
• Hands-on embedded skills: comfortable writing firmware in C or C++ for real-time control, working with CAN or EtherCAT, and debugging with a scope.
• Track record of taking an electromechanical system from schematic to working hardware in the real world.
• Pragmatic safety mindset: functional safety, e-stop design, and interlocks for a machine that exerts serious force.
• Bias for speed and high ownership: you bring systems up from nothing and debug them in the field.

Nice to have

• Experience with high-power battery systems.
• Electrical control of hydraulics.
• Off-highway, agricultural, or construction equipment experience.