Principal Electrical Engineer - Compute and Sensing

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.

• 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.
• 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).

• 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 

• Competitive salary w/ benefits
• Highly motivating equity incentive package
• Flexible work hours policy
• Professional development opportunities
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 401k plan

What We Do

Apptronik is building robots for the real world to improve human quality of life and to help solve the ever-increasing labor shortage problem. Our team has been building some of the most advanced robots on the planet for years dating back to the DARPA Robotics Challenge. We apply our expertise across the full robotics stack to some of the most important and impactful problems our society faces and expect our products and technology to change the world for the better. We value passion creativity and collaboration to help us overcome existing technological barriers in the industry to create truly innovative products.

Why Work With Us

At Apptronik we don't see a future where man competes against machine. Instead we envision a harmonious world where man and machine coexist. Our mission statement "It is not Man vs. Machine but Man + Machine" encapsulates our belief that the synergy between humans and robots will pave the way for a brighter more advanced future.

Gallery