Senior Manager of Electrical Engineering, Compute & Sensing Austin, TX

Apptronik, Inc.; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Apptronik, Inc. in Austin seeks a Senior Manager of Electrical Engineering to lead the team responsible for the compute and sensing backbone of our humanoid robots.

You will recruit and mentor engineers, own the hardware roadmap, and oversee high-speed PCB design, sensor interfaces, and carrier boards for NVIDIA Jetson SoMs. This role blends deep hands-on technical work with strategic leadership to scale hardware across manufacturing and mass production.

Qualifications

• BS in Computer or Electrical Engineering required.
• 10+ years in Electrical Engineering with focus on high-speed digital design.
• 3+ years in formal leadership or people management.

Responsibilities

• Recruit, hire, and retain top-tier electrical engineers specializing in high-speed digital design, signal integrity, and embedded systems.
• Provide deep technical guidance during design reviews, ensuring best practices for PCB layout, thermal management, and EMI/EMC compliance.
• Collaborate with Software and Perception leads to define the hardware roadmap for next-generation compute architecture.
• Lead development of custom, ruggedized carrier boards for high-performance SoMs (NVIDIA), optimized for power and space constraints.
• Oversee the implementation and validation of high-speed data protocols.
• Define the power architecture for the compute cluster, ensuring stable delivery under high-transient loads.
• Direct the electrical integration of diverse sensors modalities.
• Optimize the electrical interface and synchronization of sensors for low-latency data in the autonomy stack.
• Ensure robust data transmission across complex robot harnesses, mitigating noise and interference in a high-power environment.

Skills

NVIDIA Jetson

High-speed PCB

Signal integrity

Power integrity

Leadership

Sensor interfaces

GMSL2

FPD-Link III

Ethernet

CAN-FD

Education

B.S in Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering

10+ years in Electrical Engineering

3+ years leadership

Job description

Senior Manager of Electrical Engineering, Compute & Sensing

Austin, TX

Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.
We operate at the cutting edge of Applied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.

JOB SUMMARY

Apptronik is seeking a visionary Senior Manager of Electrical Engineering to lead the team responsible for the "nervous system" and "brain" of our next-generation humanoid robots. In this role, you will build, mentor, and grow a specialized engineering team dedicated to defining and developing our high-performance compute and sensing stack.

You will bridge the gap between silicon and sensing, overseeing the design of custom high-speed carrier boards and the integration of diverse sensor modalities. This is a leadership position that requires deep technical "in-the-trenches" experience with modern SoMs and high-bandwidth data acquisition, combined with the strategic mindset needed to scale a world-class hardware team.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Recruit, hire, and retain top-tier electrical engineers specializing in high-speed digital design, signal integrity, and embedded systems.
• Provide deep technical guidance during design reviews, ensuring the team adheres to best practices for PCB layout, thermal management, and EMI/EMC compliance.
• Collaborate with Software and Perception leads to define the hardware roadmap for our next-generation compute architecture.
• Lead the development of custom, ruggedized carrier boards for high-performance SoMs (specifically NVIDIA), optimized for the unique power and space constraints of a humanoid robot.
• Oversee the implementation and validation of high-speed data protocols.
• Define the power architecture for the compute cluster, ensuring stable delivery under high-transient loads and harsh electrical environments.
• Direct the electrical integration of diverse sensors modalities.
• Optimize the electrical interface and synchronization of sensors to ensure low-latency data for the autonomy stack.
• Ensure robust data transmission across complex robot harnesses, mitigating noise and interference in a high-power actuator environment.

SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Proven track record of shipping products based on the NVIDIA Jetson platform (or similar SoM), including custom carrier board design and bring-up.
• Expert-level understanding of high-speed PCB design (12+ layers), signal integrity simulation, and power integrity analysis.
• Deep knowledge of electrical interfaces for perception sensors (GMSL2, FPD-Link III, Ethernet, CAN-FD).
• Preferred Experience in robotics, autonomous vehicles, or high-performance edge computing.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• B.S in Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering
• 10+ years in Electrical Engineering with a focus on high-speed digital design, including 3+ years in a formal people-management or leadership role.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
• Must be able to lift 15 pounds at times
• Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
• Hearing and speech to communicate

*This is a direct hire. Please, no outside Agency solicitations.

Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.