Founding Electrical Engineer

Role Summary

This is a founding-level hardware role at a Y Combinator–backed startup building an AI-powered wearable in the emotional intelligence space. The company — a small, fast-moving team of five — is developing a consumer wrist device that reads real-time emotional states using a proprietary AI inference model across audio and biometric signals. Prototypes are already on users' wrists.

As the Founding Electrical Engineer , you will own all things electronics — from schematic to board layout to production handoff. You'll work directly alongside the founder (an ex-Apple hardware product designer) and have a defining impact on the product as the company scales. This is a high-ownership role with meaningful equity.

Responsibilities

• Own the full electrical and PCB/board design for the wearable device end-to-end
• Drive rapid hardware iteration across device revisions in a fast-paced, prototype-heavy environment
• Lead consumer hardware from functional prototype through to mass production
• Collaborate closely with firmware and mechanical teams to ensure tight hardware integration
• Define and uphold electrical engineering standards and processes as the team grows
• Take on a leadership role in the hardware org as the company scales

Requirements

• 3+ years of hands-on experience in PCB/board design
• Demonstrated track record of shipping physical, consumer-grade hardware products
• Strong background in consumer electronics and embedded hardware
• Experience integrating sensors (biometric, audio, or similar) into compact form-factor devices
• Comfort operating at the pace of an early-stage startup — iterating quickly, wearing multiple hats

Nice to Have

• Experience at a consumer electronics company (wearables, mobile hardware, or similar)
• Background taking devices from EVT/DVT/PVT through to mass production
• Familiarity with low-power design and BLE/wireless integration in compact hardware
• Experience with signal processing or biosensor hardware
• Base salary: $150,000 USD annually
• Equity: Up to 1–2% (founding-level grant)
• Seed-stage company backed by Y Combinator (S26)
• This is an on-site role , with San Francisco also considered. The primary listed location is New York, NY, USA .
• Visa sponsorship: No new visa sponsorship is available. H-1B transfers are accepted.