Principal Hardware Engineer

Akkar; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Akkar is seeking a Principal Hardware Engineer to own the hardware architecture of a complex autonomous vehicle platform in a senior IC role. The position demands hands-on leadership across mechanical, electrical and electromechanical systems, from design through production.

You will drive drive-by-wire, actuation, sensor and enclosure integration, and ensure system-level reliability with cross-functional teams in software, controls and manufacturing.

Qualifications

• 15+ years' hardware engineering experience building and shipping physical products.
• Experience taking products through design, DFM, manufacturing and production.
• Hands-on experience with electromechanical systems such as steering, braking, motors or comparable systems.
• Experience with safety-critical hardware or standards such as ISO 26262, ISO 13849 or IEC 61508.
• Background in robotics, autonomous vehicles, commercial/off-highway vehicles, industrial automation, aerospace or similar environments.

Responsibilities

• Set hardware architecture across mechanical, electrical and electromechanical systems.
• Lead development of drive-by-wire, actuation and safety-critical hardware.
• Own system integration across sensors, compute, power, harnesses and enclosures.
• Take hardware from architecture and prototyping through DFM, supplier qualification and volume production.
• Lead hardware bring-up, debugging, validation and field reliability improvements.
• Work closely with software, controls, systems, safety and manufacturing teams.
• Provide technical leadership across the hardware organisation without direct people management.

Skills

Hardware architecture

Mechanical engineering

Electrical engineering

System integration

Hardware debugging

Safety standards

PCB design

Robotics domain

Job description

We are supporting a fast-growing autonomy and robotics company who are hiring a Principal Hardware Engineer to take technical ownership of a complex autonomous vehicle platform.

This is a senior individual contributor role for someone who has designed and shipped real hardware at production scale and can operate across mechanical, electrical and electromechanical systems.

What you'll do

• Set hardware architecture across mechanical, electrical and electromechanical systems.
• Lead development of drive-by-wire, actuation and safety-critical hardware.
• Own system integration across sensors, compute, power, harnesses and enclosures.
• Take hardware from architecture and prototyping through DFM, supplier qualification and volume production.
• Lead hardware bring-up, debugging, validation and field reliability improvements.
• Work closely with software, controls, systems, safety and manufacturing teams.
• Provide technical leadership across the hardware organisation without direct people management.

What we're looking for

• 15+ years' hardware engineering experience building and shipping physical products.
• Strong depth across both mechanical and electrical engineering.
• Experience taking products through design, DFM, manufacturing and production.
• Hands-on experience with electromechanical systems such as steering, braking, motors or comparable systems.
• Comfortable with PCB/harness design, mechanical CAD, lab bring-up and hardware debugging.
• Experience with safety-critical hardware or standards such as ISO 26262, ISO 13849 or IEC 61508 is highly relevant.
• Background in robotics, autonomous vehicles, commercial/off-highway vehicles, industrial automation, aerospace or similar environments.

This is an opportunity to remain highly hands-on while having genuine ownership of architecture, technical direction and product reliability.