Senior Electrical Product Engineer

Sharper Sense; Newark, Northern (NJ, KY); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Health insurance

401(k)

Commuter reimbursement

Hybrid work

Job summary

Sharper Sense in Newark, NJ, is seeking a hands-on Senior Electrical Product Engineer to own embedded hardware and firmware for our wearable neurostimulation products. You will design, debug, and transfer prototypes to manufacturing, collaborate with suppliers and contract manufacturers, and mentor junior engineers while maintaining strong documentation and revision control.

This role offers a competitive salary, stock options, health benefits, and a hybrid work arrangement aligned with

Qualifications

• Degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related field. Equivalent applied experience will be considered.
• 5+ years of hands-on embedded systems or physical-product development experience, including startup, doctoral, postdoctoral, or advanced research work.
• Strong experience with circuit and PCB design, microcontrollers, embedded C/C++, power systems, bench instrumentation, and system debugging.
• Experience owning substantial portions of a physical product through development, manufacturing transfer, release, use, and iteration.
• Direct experience with suppliers or contract manufacturers and the documentation and testing required for production.
• Ability to independently close complex engineering work and make informed tradeoffs across electronics, firmware, mechanics, reliability, manufacturing, cost, and schedule.
• Must work regularly in person in Newark, NJ.
• Must be a U.S. person, as defined by applicable U.S. export-control laws, and eligible to access Controlled Unclassified Information and export-controlled technical data required for the role.

Responsibilities

• Own embedded hardware and firmware projects from design through testing, manufacturing release, and product improvement.
• Design, bring up, and debug circuits, PCBs, microcontrollers, power systems, firmware, and hardware-software interfaces.
• Integrate electronics with flex circuits, batteries, enclosures, patch materials, fixtures, and packaging.
• Resolve system-level tradeoffs across performance, battery life, size, flexibility, reliability, usability, cost, and manufacturability.
• Transfer prototypes to production through DFM, manufacturing documentation, programming, inspection, and functional testing.
• Work directly with suppliers and contract manufacturers to resolve first-article, substitution, quality, and production issues.
• Develop reproducible engineering and production tests, investigate failures, and verify corrective actions.
• Review and mentor developing engineers while maintaining strong documentation and revision control.

Skills

Embedded systems

PCB design

Embedded C/C++

Power systems

System debugging

Manufacturing transfer

Education

Electrical Engineering degree

Equivalent applied experience

Tools

PCB design tools

Microcontrollers

Firmware development tools

Job description

Sharper Sense is an early-stage neurotechnology company spun out of Columbia and Cornell, backed by Joyance Partners, SOSV, and Comcast NBCUniversal, with initial customers in the U.S. Army and Air Force. We develop wearable, noninvasive neuromodulation patches that use electrical stimulation to optimize brain state, cognition, and sensory processing. We are expanding our engineering team to turn our neurostimulation patch prototypes into reliable, manufacturable products.

Open Position: Senior Electrical Product Engineer (Embedded Systems & Manufacturing)

Location: Newark, NJ, with remote work when possible (hybrid)

Role: Design, build, debug, test, and manufacture the embedded electrical, firmware, and integrated mechanical systems behind our wearable neurostimulation products.

Type: Full-time

Pay: $80K-$120K per year + stock options + benefits, including health insurance, 401(k), and commuter reimbursement

We are seeking a hands‑on senior engineer who can independently own embedded systems and help translate working prototypes into complete, manufacturable products. You will work alongside our Director of Product Design on major technical workstreams, difficult system‑level decisions, and the development of less‑experienced engineers. The strongest candidate combines embedded electrical and firmware expertise with experience shipping physical products and working directly with suppliers or contract manufacturers. Experience with wearable, biomedical, or neurotechnology products is strongly preferred.

Key Responsibilities

• Own embedded hardware and firmware projects from design through testing, manufacturing release, and product improvement.
• Design, bring up, and debug circuits, PCBAs, microcontrollers, power systems, firmware, and hardware‑software interfaces.
• Integrate electronics with flex circuits, batteries, enclosures, patch materials, fixtures, and packaging.
• Resolve system‑level tradeoffs across performance, battery life, size, flexibility, reliability, usability, cost, and manufacturability.
• Transfer prototypes to production through DFM, manufacturing documentation, programming, inspection, and functional testing.
• Work directly with suppliers and contract manufacturers to resolve first‑article, substitution, quality, and production issues.
• Develop reproducible engineering and production tests, investigate failures, and verify corrective actions.
• Review and mentor developing engineers while maintaining strong documentation and revision control.

Required Education and Work Experience

• Degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related field. Equivalent applied experience will be considered.
• 5+ years of hands‑on embedded systems or physical‑product development experience, including relevant startup, doctoral, postdoctoral, or advanced research work.
• Strong experience with circuit and PCB design, microcontrollers, embedded C/C++, power systems, bench instrumentation, and system debugging.
• Experience owning substantial portions of a physical product through development, manufacturing transfer, release, use, and iteration.
• Direct experience with suppliers or contract manufacturers and the documentation and testing required for production.
• Ability to independently close complex engineering work and make informed tradeoffs across electronics, firmware, mechanics, reliability, manufacturing, cost, and schedule.
• Must work regularly in person in Newark, NJ.
• Must be a U.S. person, as defined by applicable U.S. export‑control laws, and eligible to access Controlled Unclassified Information and export‑controlled technical data required for the role.

Beneficial, but Not Required, Experience

• Wearable electronics, neurotechnology, neuromodulation, biosignal acquisition, physiological sensing, or other human‑connected devices.
• Mixed‑signal, stimulation, low‑noise analog, battery‑powered, wireless, flex‑PCB, or compact embedded systems.
• Mechanical CAD, enclosures, fixtures, adhesives, hydrogels, films, coatings, packaging, or roll‑to‑roll converting.
• Production testing, supplier qualification, yield improvement, corrective actions, design controls, or regulated‑product development.
• Startup or small‑team experience with broad product ownership.
• Research engineers, PhDs, and postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to apply if they have personally designed, built, debugged, and iterated substantial electrical or bioelectronic systems.

Qualities of Good Candidates

• Hands‑on, independent, organized, communicative, and accountable.
• Comfortable working across circuits, firmware, mechanical integration, testing, suppliers, and manufacturing.
• Able to make decisions with incomplete information and clearly communicate risks and tradeoffs.
• Disciplined about testing, documentation, revision control, and reproducibility.
• Able to mentor developing engineers while maintaining high expectations for ownership and output.
• Passionate about neurotechnology and broad product ownership.
• Able to start within 30 days of being hired.

Benefits Offered

• Salary, stock options, health insurance, 401(k), and commuter reimbursement.
• Hybrid work when compatible with laboratory, manufacturing, and team responsibilities.
• Direct influence over product architecture, manufacturing strategy, and major technical decisions.
• Opportunity to see your work progress into manufactured products.
• Office at SOSV HAX, with shared amenities, technical events, and a community of hardware startups.
• Exposure to our network of investors, advisors, collaborators, customers, and manufacturing partners.