Lead Hardware Engineer – Production & Test

About Tutor Intelligence At Tutor Intelligence, we believe general-purpose, generally intelligent robots will be built in our lifetimes. We build and deploy AI-powered robots that solve real problems in the field, and our goal is 1,000+ robots across multiple platforms by 2028. Getting there means building test systems and production processes that scale without sacrificing quality or reliability, and without adding headcount every time volume goes up. The Role We're looking for a hardware engineer with deep electrical and electromechanical experience who wants to own how our robots are brought up, tested and built at scale. You understand how our robots work at the circuit and system level, challenge designs, and personally root-cause failures. Then you build the test systems and production processes that keep those failures from coming back. This is not a traditional manufacturing engineering role. We need someone who can open a schematic, put a scope on a board and find the problem, then make sure it never ships again. You also work AI-first. You use tools like Claude every day to write test scripts, analyze failure data, draft procedures and move faster than a traditional engineering team could. Your first mission: stop recurring failures. Find root cause, fix it permanently, and catch problems before they reach final test or the field. What You'll Own Failure resolution: Be the technical escalation point for electrical, mechanical and system-level failures involving PCBAs, power distribution, wiring, sensors, actuators, motor controls and communication interfaces. Drive every recurring issue to root cause, corrective action and validationTest and bring-up: Own manufacturing test strategy from component test through robot bring-up, end-of-line test and Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT). Design and build test fixtures, automated test systems and diagnostic tools that make testing faster and more reliableNPI and production readiness: Take new products and engineering changes into production with validated processes, tooling, fixtures, work instructions and test coverage in place. Work with hardware and software engineering early so designs are buildable, testable and serviceableAI-driven engineering: Use AI tools like Claude to automate test analysis, speed up diagnostics, generate and maintain documentation, and build lightweight tools that remove repetitive engineering workManufacturing systems: Partner with our manufacturing systems team to define test data, traceability and work instruction requirements in our MESTechnical leadership: Set engineering standards for Production Engineering, mentor engineers, and challenge decisions that add manufacturing complexity, quality risk or cost What Success Looks Like 90 days: The top recurring build and FAT failures are resolved for good. You've shipped at least one AI-assisted test or diagnostic improvement that cuts bring-up time, and you're active in hardware design reviews1 year: Robots pass bring-up and FAT with minimal rework, and fewer manufacturing-related failures reach the field. New products launch with test coverage in place, first-pass yield keeps climbing, and output scales faster than headcount Required Bachelor's in Electrical, Computer, Mechanical or Mechatronics Engineering, or equivalent practical experienceHardware engineering experience designing, integrating or debugging complex electromechanical systems. You've owned hardware, not just the process that builds itStrong electrical fundamentals. You read schematics, use scopes and meters, and personally isolate root cause across power, PCBAs, sensors, actuators and communication interfacesExperience building test systems: fixtures, bring-up, end-of-line or automated testExperience taking hardware from development through NPI into repeatable productionA track record of driving recurring failures to permanent corrective actionDaily, hands-on use of AI tools like Claude in your engineering work, with examples of how it made you fasterYou want to be on the production floor Preferred Robotics, industrial automation, or startup scale-up experiencePython for test automation, diagnostics or data analysisPCB design reviews and design for testabilityMES, traceability or engineering change control experienceContract manufacturer or supplier bring-up How We Work Love of the Game Gumption Beginner's Mindset Belief in Each Other Keep Moving Forward Customer Obsession We value people who take ownership, get their hands dirty, solve hard problems and move with urgency.