Principal Hardware Engineer
Astera
Principal Hardware Engineer
Astera
Invests in early-stage systemic-change startups
Astera is a private foundation on a mission to steer science and technology toward a better future. We believe the coming years will bring an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancement as exponential progress in AI converges with central advances in other fields to accelerate innovation. This inflection point provides an unparalleled opportunity to fundamentally rethink the institutions, systems, and tools that drive progress. We have committed a $3.5B endowment to that work and fit the form of our support to the function it serves: grants, investments, and in-house research programs. We accept meaningful risk in the research we back and expect some of it to fail because transformative ideas are rarely the ones already proven. Our projects, and the foundation itself, operate like high-velocity startups, with a high performance bar and competitive compensation to match. We are searching for leaders who are compelled by the challenge of driving high-impact change in the way science is funded, conducted, and communicated. You can read more about our mission, vision, and programming at astera.org/vision.
Astera Neuro seeks to understand and engineer consciousness. We believe consciousness is the process by which the brain builds a coherent internal model of the world and the self. We aim to understand this model and to develop the technologies to write experience directly into the brain. By combining large-scale neural recording, causal perturbation, and brain-based AI, we seek to move neuroscience from observing correlates of experience to engineering it. The same tools carry direct therapeutic promise for neurological and psychiatric diseases that alter perception, thought, and sense of self. Because the science and tools required do not yet exist, we are assembling a founding team of neuroscientists, theorists, and engineers to create them. We do high-risk, high-reward science in a well-resourced, collaborative environment with competitive pay, and share everything openly under Astera's Open Science Policy.
As a Principal Hardware Engineer, you will design and build the physical systems our experiments depend on, most of which don't exist commercially. Working directly with scientists, you will take a project from a well-specified plan or a rough idea through design, fabrication, and iteration until it works for the experiment. The work crosses mechanical design, fabrication, electronics, and optics, often within a single project.
This is a principal-level role: you will own complex instruments end-to-end, drive technical direction, help equip and run our design and prototyping facility, and set the engineering culture and standards as the hardware team grows, mentoring and hiring the engineers who join you. You do not need a background in neuroscience to apply, we are looking for world-class generalists who have built precision hardware in demanding industry settings and who pick up the science as they go.
Design precision mechanical systems for experiments, such as titanium microfixtures, micrometer-precision electrode drives, and custom machined jigs.
Build components for custom microscopes and optical systems, including alignment and mounting hardware.
Design and iterate custom laboratory instrumentation and surgical or experimental robotics alongside the scientists who depend on them.
Develop electronics and control hardware that interface mechanical systems with data acquisition and the rest of the research stack.
Help build the design and prototyping facility itself — the tooling, workflows, and fabrication capabilities that determine how fast the team can move.
Required:
Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) with 12+ years of experience in mechanical, electrical, or biomedical engineering, physics, or a related field, with a track record of building precision hardware in a high-precision industry (e.g., medical devices, robotics, aerospace, semiconductor capital equipment, or commercial scientific instrumentation).
Experience designing and building hardware that other people relied on for real work, and keeping it running.
Resourcefulness about getting things built quickly: comfortable machining one part, 3D-printing the next, and outsourcing what's better made elsewhere.
Comfort working from a rough idea rather than a finished spec, figuring out the path to a working instrument together with the people who need it.
Deep fundamentals in mechanical design and fabrication, with real working ability in electronics or optics; you do not restrict yourself to what is familiar.
Intellectual curiosity, collaborative instincts, and eagerness to learn the science around you.
A track record of owning complex instruments end-to-end, from concept through fabrication, integration, and reliable operation.
Experience making and defending design tradeoffs across performance, manufacturability, cost, and timeline.
Experience equipping and running a workshop, makerspace, or prototyping facility.
A history of mentoring engineers or setting engineering culture and standards.
Preferred/Nice to Have:
Experience with small precise parts, difficult materials, tight tolerances, precision motion, or optical alignment.
Hands-on electronics design experience (PCB layout, embedded systems, sensor/actuator integration).
Familiarity with electrophysiology or other low-volume, high-complexity hardware environments.
CAD/CAM proficiency with hands-on machining (CNC, lathe, mill) and 3D printing.
Experience integrating hardware with data acquisition systems (DAQ, TTL synchronization, serial/SPI protocols).
Join a founding-caliber hardware team building instruments that don't exist anywhere else, in service of understanding how the brain works. You'll own complex builds end-to-end, work shoulder-to-shoulder with the scientists who use what you make, and help shape the engineering culture, tools, and standards of our design and prototyping facility as the team grows.
Astera Neuro provides a comprehensive benefits package and total compensation that is competitive and commensurate with the level of experience and qualifications.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and inclusion!
Astera Institute incubates and tests high-leverage ideas in their earliest stages to drive major social and systemic impact. It supports overlooked areas by funding and mentoring founders who can rapidly launch initiatives and create a snowball effect that scales impact. The program works by providing early-stage support, resources, and guidance to help ideas move from concept to action, enabling rapid experimentation and learning. Unlike more traditional funds that search for immediate returns, Astera distinguishes itself by focusing on high-leverage problems, seeking systemic change rather than incremental gains. Its goal is to maximize humanity's good in the most efficient possible way by accelerating breakthrough ideas that can reshape systems.
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