Founding Hardware Engineer

Founding Hardware Engineer (Robotics)

New York City (Onsite)

$180K – $220K + Equity

We’re working with a venture-backed robotics startup building autonomous manufacturing systems for the U.S. defense industrial base.

They’ve raised $6M and are a small team, now hiring their first hardware engineer to turn their AI platform into real-world robotic systems.

The Mission

Build manufacturing systems that run continuously without human intervention.

This isn’t about a better robot.

It’s about creating an intelligence layer that allows robots and machines to operate autonomously at scale.

Why This Role Is Different- This is a founding-level hardware role .

You won’t design a single component.

You’ll decide how the entire system comes together.

You’ll be answering questions like:

• Which robot platform do we build around?
• What grippers and tooling actually work in production?
• How do we integrate with real manufacturing equipment?
• What safety architecture is required for autonomy?
• How do hardware decisions impact perception and AI performance?

If you’ve only owned part of a robot, this role won’t be the right fit.

If you’ve owned systems end-to-end , this is exactly what they need.

What You’ll Do

• Own hardware architecture across the full robotics stack
• Select robots, grippers, sensors, and supporting hardware
• Design and deploy robotic work cells in real environments
• Integrate robots with manufacturing equipment
• Build safety systems for production use
• Work closely with software/AI teams to enable autonomy
• Support deployments and troubleshoot in the field

What They’re Looking For

• 4–10 years in robotics, automation, or mechatronics
• Experience building or selecting full robotic systems
• Strong understanding of manipulation (grippers, force interaction, etc.)
• Experience working closely with software teams
• Startup or small-team experience (high ownership)
• CAD: SolidWorks / Fusion 360

Ideal Backgrounds

• Robotics Systems Engineer
• Robotics Integration Engineer
• Mechatronics Engineer
• Automation Engineer
• Founding or early-stage robotics engineer

The Environment

• Team of 4 (AI, autonomy, perception-heavy)
• You are the hardware authority
• High ownership, fast decisions, real-world deployment

Why Join

This is a rare opportunity to:

• Define the hardware foundation of a robotics company
• Work directly with founders
• Own decisions that shape the product long-term
• Build systems that go from concept → real manufacturing environments

If you’ve built real robotic systems and want to own the next one end-to-end, let’s talk.