Principal Electrical Engineer

Principal Electrical Engineer

Familiar Machines & Magic is a well‑funded embodied AI and robotics startup based outside of Boston. Our founding team is Colin Angle (founder and former CEO of iRobot), Ira Renfrew (former CPO of Outrider), and Chris Jones (former CTO of iRobot). We are pioneering an exciting new category of home robot in the health and wellness space. Embodied and agentic AI are central enablers to our product vision.

We are seeking a highly skilled and innovative Principal Electrical Engineer to spearhead the development and delivery of consumer robotics hardware and guide its evolution from prototype into production‑grade systems. This role demands a unique blend of technical expertise, problem‑solving creativity, and leadership to design cutting‑edge electrical systems for robotic and consumer product applications.

• Lead electrical engineering efforts for hardware development, from system architecture and prototype iteration through preparing designs for manufacturability with overseas partners.
• Collaborate across disciplines to design, prototype, and deliver innovative solutions that meet performance, power efficiency, and reliability goals.
• Guide the evolution of prototype electrical systems into robust, production‑ready designs, ensuring alignment with assembly processes, cost targets and certifications.
• Ensure designs meet consumer‑grade safety, durability, usability, and compliance standards; support early regulatory preparation and validation tests.
• Lead schematic design and layout efforts, ensuring reliability, ease of assembly, and seamless hand‑off to manufacturing partners; incorporating DFM/DFT feedback while maintaining startup agility.
• Develop and optimize power management and battery systems that meet the unique constraints of consumer robotics power, energy, and life requirements.
• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance as the electrical engineering team scales, establishing processes appropriate for a fast‑moving startup entering production.
• Oversight of the design of motor controllers for precise motion control, including refinement for DFM/DFA and reliability.
• Select, integrate, and optimize sensors (e.g., cameras, LiDAR, IMUs) critical to robotic functionality, supporting both fast iteration in prototyping and reliability in early production builds.
• Design and analyze complex circuits, including power electronics, mixed‑signal processing, and communication systems, balancing rapid development needs with long‑term product scalability.

• 10+ years of experience bringing robotic or consumer hardware products from concept to production.
• Demonstrated technical leadership and mentoring skills within fast‑paced, high‑ownership engineering environments.
• Experience collaborating with supply chain and manufacturing to evaluate component availability, refine BOM costs, and support builds with manufacturing partners from EVT through to Pilot.
• Familiarity with regulatory standards and certification of consumer electronics (FCC, CE, UL, etc.).
• Strong expertise in circuit design, power systems, motor control, and sensor integration for embedded or robotic systems.
• Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.

If you’re passionate about creating innovative cutting‑edge robotic systems for consumer products, and excited to join a fast‑moving hardware team where you’ll see your designs directly applied to our robots, we’d love to hear from you. Be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, building a first‑of‑its‑kind consumer robotics product with direct real‑world impact.

Mid‑Senior level

Full‑time

Engineering and Information Technology