Chief Hardware Officer (+ Equity) at Stealth physical AI startup

About the role

The role of Chief Hardware Officer involves leading the development of proprietary tactile sensing hardware for the next generation of physical AI. The responsibilities include owning the hardware lifecycle from prototype to volume manufacturing, developing firmware and MCU bring-up processes, and ensuring reliability qualification.

Responsibilities

• Own the hardware lifecycle from prototype to a manufacturable, qualifiable product, including firmware development and MCU bring-up.
• Develop calibration and reliability qualification processes to ensure high-resolution tactile sensing scales effectively for volume manufacturing.
• Set the long-term hardware roadmap and lead the hiring and management of a world-class hardware engineering team.

Requirements

• Proven track record of shipping real sensing, embedded, or MEMS/semiconductor hardware to production at scale.
• Extremely hands-on technical leader who writes firmware, designs systems, and can personally debug MCUs during long bring-up cycles.
• Previous experience as a founder or early engineer at a hardware startup, with a strong sense of personal accountability for delivery dates.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Experience with embedded systems, firmware development, and reliability testing.
• Strong leadership skills and ability to manage a team.

Skills

• Hardware design and development.
• Firmware development and debugging.
• Reliability testing and qualification.
• Team leadership and project management.

Benefits

• C-level mandate and cofounder-level equity.
• Join a well-funded, stealth-stage founding team with a working prototype and a clear technical moat in a high-growth sector.
• Transition from a working laboratory prototype to a scalable, manufacturable product that solves a fundamental bottleneck in modern autonomous systems.

Pay

Salary Not Disclosed + Equity

Schedule

Full-time

Benefits

• Health insurance.
• Retirement plan.
• Flexible work schedule.
• Professional development opportunities.

Contact

To apply, contact Jill, the AI Recruiter, via Jack. For more information about Jack and Jill, visit jackandjill.ai.