Senior Electrical & Controls Leader — Field-Ready, Equity

BurnBot; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 215,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity — Incentive Stock Options

Health, dental, and vision

Flexible paid time off

Job summary

BurnBot is seeking an experienced Electrical/Controls leader to guide a team building remotely operated machinery for wildfire management. Based in South San Francisco, you will own hardware and software interfaces, drive architectural decisions, and ensure field reliability while mentoring engineers and coordinating with suppliers.

You will work onsite with the team, maintain flexibility for heads-down days, and travel to field sites in California and nearby states to validate performance on

Qualifications

• 8+ years in electrical engineering or controls with leadership experience.
• Depth in vehicle or machine electrical systems: power distribution, batteries, harness design, and connectors.
• Embedded or PLC controls experience with CAN or similar buses.
• Working understanding of functional safety and how to design for it.
• Hands‑on debug ability with scope and a multimeter.
• Judgment about make-versus-buy, cost, and schedule — and the willingness to defend it.
• B.S. in electrical engineering or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the team of electrical and controls engineers: hiring, mentoring, and setting technical bar.
• Own electrical architecture across the fleet: power, batteries, harnessing, PCBA, sensors, and communications.
• Oversee machine controls: embedded/PLC software, CAN, actuators, interlocks.
• Design and prove safety systems: E-stops, fault handling, safe states.
• Ensure field reliability: connectors, ingress, EMC, vibration, heat; own failure rate figures.
• Manage suppliers and build partners, and align team commitments with broader engineering plans.

Skills

Electrical engineering & leadership

Vehicle/machine electrical systems

Embedded/PLC controls

CAN buses

Functional safety

Hands-on debugging

Make-vs-buy judgment

Education

B.S. in electrical engineering or equivalent experience

Tools

Oscilloscope

Multimeter

Job description

BurnBot is seeking an experienced Electrical/Controls leader to guide a team building remotely operated machinery for wildfire management. Based in South San Francisco, you will own hardware and software interfaces, drive architectural decisions, and ensure field reliability while mentoring engineers and coordinating with suppliers.

You will work onsite with the team, maintain flexibility for heads-down days, and travel to field sites in California and nearby states to validate performance on