Senior Electrical Engineer - Robotics (Power Electronics, EMC & Sensor Integration)

HFBAC (Hiring For and Building Awesome Companies); San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

HFBAC is seeking an experienced electrical engineer to own electronics integration across multiple robot platforms in San Mateo, CA. You will ensure clean sensor data and robust power delivery as robots operate in real-world environments.

Responsibilities include motor drives, EMI/EMC design, PCB layout and lab debugging with scopes and LISNs. On-site work is required; OPT and H1B transfers are welcome, no new visa sponsorship.

Qualifications

• 5-12 years in electrical engineering for robotics or comparable electromechanical products.
• Shipped electrical hardware from concept to production, not just prototypes.
• EMC/EMI design and debug: grounding, shielding, filtering, signal and power integrity.
• Designed power electronics: motor drives, switching power supplies, high-current DC, battery management.
• Strong PCB design and layout with a system-level EMC mindset.

Responsibilities

• Design and validate motor driver circuits, power electronics and sensor electronics.
• Set the grounding, shielding, filtering and cabling strategy, so EMC risk gets caught at design stage and not in the lab three weeks before a demo.
• Integrate IMUs, encoders, hall sensors and cameras at PCB level.
• Get hands-on in the lab with scopes, spectrum analysers and LISNs to find the root cause.
• Make the calls on performance, cost, reliability, manufacturability and schedule alongside EE, ME, firmware and controls.

Education

BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics or related

Tools

CAN

GMSL

Ethernet

USB

SPI

I2C

RS-485

RF/antenna integration

Job description

Have you ever been the person everyone turns to when a robot browns out mid-motion, or a sensor goes noisy the second the motors spin up?

Good. That's the job.

HFBAC is partnering with one of the best-funded robotics AI companies in the world.

They're building a general-purpose robot foundation model, which is one intelligence that runs across humanoids, quadrupeds, bimanual systems and warehouse automation.

They're also building their own hardware in-house.

Their customers include some of the biggest names in tech and logistics, and the team comes from leading robotics research labs, autonomy programmes and frontier AI.

The AI is only as good as the hardware it runs on. That's where you come in.

The impact you'll have

You'll own electrical system integration across multiple robot platforms. When software needs clean sensor data and controls needs power that holds up under load, you're the one who makes it real.

• Design and validate motor driver circuits, power electronics and sensor electronics
• Set the grounding, shielding, filtering and cabling strategy, so EMC risk gets caught at design stage and not in the lab three weeks before a demo
• Integrate IMUs, encoders, hall sensors and cameras at PCB level
• Get hands-on in the lab with scopes, spectrum analysers and LISNs to find the root cause
• Make the calls on performance, cost, reliability, manufacturability and schedule alongside EE, ME, firmware and controls

What you've already done

• 5-12 years in electrical engineering for robotics or comparable electromechanical products
• Taken electrical hardware from concept all the way to production - shipped, not just prototyped
• Owned EMC/EMI design and debug: grounding, shielding, filtering, signal and power integrity
• Designed power electronics: motor drives, switching power supplies, high-current DC, battery management
• Strong PCB design and layout, with a system-level approach to EMC
• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics or related

What you bring to the table

• You make good decisions with incomplete requirements, and you can explain the trade-off clearly to people outside your discipline
• You'd rather be in the lab with a probe than in a meeting about the lab
• You're comfortable across CAN, GMSL, Ethernet, USB, SPI, I2C and RS-485. RF and antenna integration is a bonus

Why this one is different

• Real ownership - no middle management and direct access to the founders
• Real-world impact - your work goes into robots deployed with major customers
• Proof over pedigree - they care about what you've built and how you show up, not where you studied
• Serious backing - $180K-$240K base plus competitive equity in a company with the funding to see big ideas through

The practical bits

• On site in San Mateo, CA, 5 days a week. If you'd relocate for the right role, tell us when you apply
• OPT and H1B transfers are welcome. This role can't support new visa sponsorship

About HFBAC

We're HFBAC - Hiring For and Building Awesome Companies. We work Chemistry First, which means we get to know how you work and what you want next before we get anywhere near your CV. We've spent more than a decade partnering with robotics teams, so when you tell us about the hardest EMC problem you've cracked, we'll actually understand why it mattered.