Principal Electrical Engineer, Apptronik
Compute and Sensing
$295-330k
Office located in Sunnyvale, CA
Humanoid robot developer
Be an early applicant
Humanoid robot developer
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
$295-330k
Office located in Sunnyvale, CA
201-500 employees
Company mission
To leverage robotics to improve universal quality of life.
Role
Who you are
- Expertise: * Proven track record of designing custom carrier boards for NVIDIA Jetson or similar high-end compute modules
- Mastery of high-speed digital design (PCIe, DDR4/5, GMSL, 10GbE)
- Experience integrating multi-sensor suites with precise hardware-level time synchronization
- Hands-on experience with Functional Safety architecture (ISO 26262 or equivalent)
- Tools: Proficiency with Altium Designer (or similar) and hardware simulation tools (SPICE, Ansys, or HyperLynx)
- Education: M.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field
- Experience: 12+ years of experience in high-performance hardware design, with a focus on robotics, autonomous vehicles, or aerospace
- 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
What the job involves
- Apptronik is seeking a world-class Principal Compute & Sensing Engineer to serve as the lead architect for the "nervous system" of the Apollo humanoid robot
- This is a top-tier technical role for an expert who can design and implement the high-performance compute and sensory backbone required for general-purpose robotics
- You will be responsible for the end-to-end hardware architecture—from NVIDIA Jetson-based carrier designs to the electrical integration of complex perception suites—ensuring that Apollo is powerful, redundant, and functionally safe
- Primary Architect: Own the end-to-end design of Apollo’s safe compute architecture. Select core processing elements (SoCs, FPGAs, MCUs) and design system-level redundancy to meet real-time performance requirements
- High-Performance PCB Design: Lead the design and validation of custom carrier boards for high-performance modules (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson). Expertly manage power delivery networks (PDN), thermal dissipation strategies, and high-speed signal integrity for complex interfaces
- Manufacturing & Reliability: Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Reliability (DFR) for compute modules, ensuring they can withstand the high-vibration and dynamic thermal environments of a mobile humanoid robot
- Multi-Modal Sensing: Define the electrical architecture for a full perception stack, including LiDAR, depth cameras, IMUs, and tactile sensors
- Data Pipeline Optimization: Architect the high-bandwidth pipelines and synchronization protocols required for sensor fusion. Manage complex communication interfaces (GigE, GMSL2, USB 3.0, MIPI) to ensure low-latency data delivery to the perception software
- Safety Architecture: Drive the physical and logical architecture decisions required to meet Functional Safety standards Fail-Safe Systems: Design hardware-level redundancy, fail-safe mechanisms, and Built-In Tests (BIT) to achieve required safety integrity levels (ASIL/SIL) for operation in human-occupied environments
- Diagnostics: Implement robust hardware diagnostics to monitor the health of the compute and sensing backbone in real-time
- Multi-Generational Roadmap: Define the long-term technical roadmap for Apollo’s compute and sensing evolution, identifying emerging technologies (e.g., new SoCs or sensor modalities) that will keep Apptronik at the cutting edge
- Cross-Functional Influence: Act as the ultimate technical authority on compute/sensing during design reviews with the Controls, Perception, and Systems Engineering teams
- Mentorship: Provide deep technical mentorship to electrical and embedded engineers, fostering a culture of rigorous engineering and innovation without the burden of administrative management
Our take
Apptronik specialises in the development of advanced robotic systems designed to enhance and automate various industrial processes. The company's flagship product, The Apollo humanoid robot, is engineered to perform low-skill, physically demanding tasks that are repetitive and crucial for manufacturing efficiency.
The company's expertise extends beyond robotics into the broader realm of artificial intelligence and automation, contributing to its rapid growth and increasing prominence in the tech industry. Apptronik's products are designed to integrate seamlessly into existing workflows, offering solutions that address labour shortages and improve operational efficiency.
The company's partnership with Mercedes-Benz marks a significant milestone for both companies. This agreement to pilot Apollo robots in Mercedes-Benz manufacturing facilities represents Apptronik's first publicly announced commercial deployment. This is an exciting opportunity for the company, and as the industry continues to evolve, Apptronik is poised to leverage its technology to meet increasing demands in the robotics and automation sectors.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
35% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 4 rounds)
Feb 2026
$520m
SERIES A
Mar 2025
$415m
SERIES A
Total funding: $949.9m
Company HQ
North Burnet, Austin, TX
Leadership
Jeff Cardenas
(Co-Founder & CEO)Received a Master of Science in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas. Founded multiple startups and non-profits. Previously worked at IC2 Institute at UT Austin and in Technology at Deloitte Consulting.
Dr. Nick Paine
(Co-Founder & CTO)B.S., M.S. and Ph.D in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin. Previously a member of the NASA-JSC DARPA Robotics Challenge team which developed high-performance hardware and software for robotic control.
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