Electrical Engineer

About the Company

The datacenter buildout is the largest industrial project in human history. Gradient builds the autonomous robots that make it possible.

Partnered with the world's largest AI infrastructure companies and backed by the industry's best investors, we move fast and build full-stack systems that matter.

About the role

We're looking for an electrical engineer to own electronics end-to-end at a fast-moving company building robots for AI infrastructure.

You get a goal, not a spec, and run it from there: identify the critical requirements, design the solution (a single PCB or a whole system), bring it up, integrate it with the robot, and make it production-ready. You'll design PCBs, review others' designs, and keep the big picture in view so effort goes where it adds the most value.

Responsibilities

• Own electrical subsystems end-to-end: take sensing, actuation, power and communication subsystems on our robots from requirements through integration, including the trade studies behind your design choices.

• Design and validate the electronics: schematic capture and PCB layout for mixed-signal boards (sensor interfaces, motor control, power distribution, embedded compute), then bring-up, debug and test on real hardware.

• Build what the robot needs to sense and move: partner with mechanical engineers on instrumentation, use custom PCBs or industrial components as the problem demands, and write firmware that gives software a reliable control interface.

• Take designs toward production: learn supply chain and manufacturability, and work with board vendors and contract manufacturers on yield.

• Make it safe from day one: contribute to safety practices for our lab and build floor, and support compliance testing (EMI/EMC, product safety).

Minimum Qualifications

• Background in electrical engineering

• At least one internship or job doing hands-on electrical design (exceptional new grads with strong project or internship experience are welcome to apply)

• PCB design experience on boards you designed, brought up and debugged yourself

• Prior design work you're proud of: products, internal projects, student teams or independent builds

• Initiative and self-direction: you drive your own learning, and can debug thorny issues that span multiple systems

• An obsession with quality: you want projects not just done, but done well

• Able to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days/week (6 days/week near key deadlines), embedded in the team

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at a hardware, robotics or industrial automation company

• Firmware development experience (embedded C/C++ or Rust, motor control, communication protocols)

• Circuit simulation (SPICE or similar)

• Comfort using AI tools to multiply your own output

If you're driven and have the initiative to tackle any problem in your way, we want you here. It's okay if your qualifications don't match every line; show us what you've built. We're aggressively trying to learn everything we can about robotics, and if you have the passion and ability to do the same, you'll succeed here.