Senior Hardware Engineer — Drug-Development Systems Lead

Capable; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 235,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

Wellness budget

Healthcare coverage

HSA/FSA/401K

Daily team dinners

Visa sponsorship available

Job summary

Capable in San Francisco seeks an engineering leader to own the physical systems behind its drug-development platform. You will guide architecture for lab-automation and drug-delivery hardware, remaining hands-on through prototyping and validation.

You will collaborate with chemists, biologists, and software teams to decide what to automate next, while building robust hardware and development workflows. Equity is offered and visa sponsorship is possible.

Qualifications

• Experience owning complex physical systems from concept to validated hardware.
• Hands-on debugging across hardware, controls, and experiments.
• Ability to make architectural tradeoffs and fast tests.
• Strong technical communication to lead cross-functional teams.
• Willingness to work across multiple subsystems and domains.

Responsibilities

• Own system architecture and technical direction for laboratory-automation or drug-delivery hardware, from requirements through validated prototypes.
• Design and integrate fluidic, electromechanical, sensing, control, and user-interface subsystems, balancing performance, reliability, safety, and speed of iteration.
• Resolve difficult design and integration problems involving flow paths, pressure, sealing, materials compatibility, actuation, thermal control, sensing, dose accuracy, carryover, priming, draining, or fault recovery.
• Define test strategies, acceptance criteria, and failure-analysis methods that connect engineering performance to chemical or biological outcomes.
• Build and debug critical prototypes personally while guiding the work of collaborators, vendors, and future hardware teammates.
• Partner closely with chemists, biologists, and software collaborators to decide what to automate, instrument, or redesign next.
• Establish practical engineering standards, documentation, component choices, and development workflows for Capable’s growing hardware function.

Skills

System architecture

Hardware debugging

Cross-functional leadership

Mechanical design

Electrical systems

Process optimization

Job description

Capable in San Francisco seeks an engineering leader to own the physical systems behind its drug-development platform. You will guide architecture for lab-automation and drug-delivery hardware, remaining hands-on through prototyping and validation.

You will collaborate with chemists, biologists, and software teams to decide what to automate next, while building robust hardware and development workflows. Equity is offered and visa sponsorship is possible.