Senior Manager, Electrical Engineering & Controls

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

• Location 340 Shaw Rd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, United States
• Base Pay $170,000.00 - $215,000.00 / Year
• Employee Type Exempt (FT)

About BurnBot

Wildfire has stopped being a season. BurnBot builds the machines that get ahead of it — remotely operated systems that apply and contain prescribed fire, and platforms that clear heavy fuel on terrain that isn’t safe for crews.

Our fleet is at work today for PG&E, CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service, Caltrans, fire districts, and tribal nations across California, Oregon, and Washington — treating land at up to 40x the pace of conventional methods. We’re roboticists, engineers, and career fire practitioners. Hardware we design in South San Francisco is in the dirt within weeks, and the people who designed it are usually standing next to it.

THE ROLE

Every machine we build runs on the electrical and controls stack: power, batteries, harnessing, sensors, radios, and the software that makes a 10,000-pound machine do exactly what a remote operator asked and nothing else.

You’ll lead the team that owns it — hiring, growing, and setting the technical bar — while staying close enough to the hardware to catch what a schematic review would miss.

WHAT YOU’LL OWN

• The team. Hire, mentor, and run a group of electrical and controls engineers, and be the person they want to bring a hard problem to.

• Electrical architecture across the fleet: power distribution, battery and high-voltage systems, harnessing, PCBA, sensors, and comms

• Machine controls: embedded and PLC software, CAN networks, actuator control, and the interlocks that sit under all of it

• Safety systems. E-stops, fault handling, and safe states — designed, documented, and proven, not assumed.

• Field reliability: connectors, ingress, EMC, vibration, and heat. Most of what fails in the field is electrical, and you own that number

• Suppliers and build partners, plus the schedule commitments your team makes to the rest of engineering

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• 8+ years in electrical engineering or controls, including experience leading engineers — formally or as the clear technical lead

• Depth in vehicle or machine electrical systems: power distribution, batteries, harness design, and connectors that survive the field

• Embedded or PLC controls experience, and fluency with CAN or similar industrial buses

• A working understanding of functional safety and how to design for it

• Hands‑on debug ability. You can still find the fault with a 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

NICE TO HAVE

• Off‑highway, agricultural, or construction equipment background

• High-voltage battery pack design, BMS, or charging infrastructure

• Radio, telemetry, or mesh networking in remote terrain with no cell coverage

• ISO 13849 / machine safety certification experience

• Growing a team from a handful of engineers to a real function

Summary

HOW WE WORK

• Based onsite in South San Francisco — design, build, and test all happen in one building, and being near the machines is most of the point

• Flexible within that. You own your calendar: work the hours where you’re sharpest, and go remote on heads‑down days.

• Expect a few days a month in the field across California, Oregon, and Washington. Watching your work run on a live burn is the best part of the job.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Base salary: $170,000 – $215,000 — final offers reflect experience and demonstrated scope.

• Equity — Incentive Stock Options

• Health, dental, and vision

• Flexible paid time off

Burnbot is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including but not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with one or more disabilities, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

If you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [phone] x 1010 or [e-mail].