Job Description, Responsibilities & Requirements
About the Position
We are seeking a Lead Electrical Engineer to join our growing team and anchor our autonomous transport initiatives in San Francisco. In this role, you will own the electrical architecture for next-generation on-road autonomous vehicles, guiding hardware development from early prototyping to high-volume scaling.
Responsibilities
- Technical leadership: Own the overarching electrical strategy for vehicle drive-by-wire and carrier boards. Mentor junior engineers, drive design reviews, and establish rigorous standards for hardware development.
- Vehicle integration: Analyze and document CAN bus, CAN FD, direct signaling, and vehicle-specific communication protocols on passenger and commercial platforms.
- Drive-by-wire development: Design and implement custom circuit boards for electronic and actuator-based vehicle operation, collaborating cross-team on firmware, wiring, and connectors.
- Carrier board design & firmware integration: Design multi-layer carrier boards for compute units handling real-time control systems, including high-speed differential signaling and mixed-signal circuits.
- Hardware testing: Design, build, and support testing processes and hardware test apparatus for validation and troubleshooting.
- Integration & deployment: Support fleet installations and troubleshoot hardware/firmware issues at testing and deployment sites.
Requirements
- Required Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
- 3+ years of experience with a proven track record of leading complex electrical engineering projects.
- Strong PCB design experience with multi-layer boards and high-speed signaling.
- Deep familiarity with embedded systems, firmware architecture, and real-time control applications.
- Familiarity with common automotive communication protocols (CAN, LIN, Ethernet).
- Hands-on experience with hardware testing, validation, and debugging tools (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers).
- Ability to lead and thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative startup environment.
We Offer
- Competitive base salary range: $195,000 - $246,000 per year.
- Equity awards.
- Annual performance-based bonus.
- Comprehensive benefits package including:
- Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance
- Flexible Spending Account / Health Savings Account Options
- 401(k)
- Sick Time, Unlimited Flexible Time Off, and Paid Holidays
- Paid Parental Leave
- Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Plan
- Team lunch in our SoMa office every Tuesday and Thursday
About the Company
Atoms is building the machines that power the next era of progress. We are transforming the physical world by developing Physical AI-real-world robots for industries such as food, mining, and transport. Our systems are designed to understand, predict, and control the real world with precision, turning complex physical operations into something more reliable, more scalable, and more productive.
Join us if you want to work on hard problems with real-world impact.