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Avidbots is a robotics company developing autonomous floor scrubbing robots (Neo and Kas) deployed globally. This Senior Hardware Developer role sits in R&D, focused on rapid prototyping and design of next-generation hardware platforms.
You will own the full hardware development cycle from concept to production handoff, with particular emphasis on electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). The role involves turning whiteboard ideas into working prototypes in weeks—dev kits, breadboards, quick-turn PCBs hand-assembled in-house—then instrumenting, testing, and breaking them to produce defensible recommendations. Some prototypes are intentionally discarded; survivors become the foundation for production.
Key responsibilities include:
**Prototyping & Bring-up:** Convert concepts to working hardware on rapid iteration cycles (weeks, not quarters). Own end-to-end debug, design test jigs and instrumented benches, run trade studies with measured data, and judge prototype readiness.
**Board & System Design:** Own schematic capture and multilayer PCB layout across analog, digital, and power domains (control boards, sensor interfaces, power distribution, safety circuits, motor control). Contribute to system architecture and power distribution strategy for next-generation platforms. Work the full problem: architecture, embedded and analog design, detailed layout, debug, and board/system-level testing.
**EMC, EMI & Signal Integrity:** Design for EMC from first revision—stackup, impedance planning, ground/return-path strategy, domain partitioning, filtering, transient suppression, shielding. Design low-emission power architecture. Stand up and run in-house pre-compliance screening (near-field probing, conducted/radiated emissions, ESD, EFT, surge immunity). Support external test-house campaigns. Partner with mechanical teams on harness, enclosure design, routing, segregation, shield termination, bonding, and chassis grounding.
**Sensors & Evaluation:** Evaluate, select, and characterize sensor suites and mechatronics (2D/3D LiDAR, Time-of-Flight, encoders, failsafe brakes) including head-to-head evaluation against real operating conditions. Prototype new hardware features from concept through demonstrable bench and robot-level function.
**Safety & Production Path:** Design with IEC 61508, IEC 63327, and IEC 60335-2-72 in view from prototype stage. Contribute to Hazard Analysis & Risk Assessment, FMEA, and FMEDA. Hand designs over cleanly with DFM feedback, BOM strategy, and design intent for production and V&V teams.
**Knowledge Stewardship:** Document reasoning, not just results. Capture what was tried and rejected, which component choices are load-bearing, and known failure signatures so prototype lessons outlive the prototype itself.
**Requirements:**
- B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering or equivalent
- 7+ years of hardware design experience in robotics, safety-critical, medical, aerospace, or automotive fields
- Excellent schematic and multilayer PCB layout skills, including mixed-signal and power layout; ability to defend stackup, ground scheme, and return path
- Demonstrated ownership of a product through EMC certification (taken design into chamber, failed, root-caused, fixed, passed); familiarity with CISPR/EN 55014, CISPR 11, IEC 61000-4 immunity series, FCC Part 15 Subpart B, ICES-003
- Genuinely hands-on in lab: comfortable assembling and reworking boards (fine-pitch, BGA), building fixtures for trustworthy measurements
- Proficient with standard lab instrumentation (DMM, oscilloscope, power supply, function generator, spectrum analyzer, near-field probes)
- Comfortable working from incomplete requirements; can scope prototypes to answer one question, resist gold-plating, change direction based on data
- Experience across full development cycle with designs that shipped and held up in field
- Working knowledge of functional safety standards and hardware safety integrity metrics
- Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, organizational skills; self-starter genuinely interested in robots
**Bonus Qualifications:**
- Hands-on EMC troubleshooting depth (filter design, ferrite/choke selection, shielded cable termination, closing failed scans under schedule pressure)
- Experience with high-current brushless motor drives and noise behavior in mobile platforms
- Electronics design and simulation tools (Altium or comparable SI/PI simulation)
- Embedded or scripting ability (C, Python) to bring up prototypes independently
- Rapid mechanical fabrication experience (3D printing, laser cutting, basic machining)
- Standards and certification experience (UL, CSA, CE) including technical file preparation
- Robots or complex electro-mechanical systems and safety-critical hardware experience
- Laser product safety (IEC 60825) or intentional-radiator certification familiarity
- ROS, Linux, Jira, Google Workspace familiarity
- Previous experience operating or servicing industrial/commercial floor cleaning equipment
