Founding Electrical Engineer

About the Role 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. What You'll Do 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 What We're Looking For Required 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 Compensation & Benefits Base salary: $150,000 USD annually Equity: Up to 1–2% (founding-level grant) Seed-stage company backed by Y Combinator (S26) Location 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. Originally posted on Himalayas