Senior Hardware Engineer; FTC

Senior Hardware Engineer (3 month FTC)

We’re looking for a passionate Senior Hardware Design Engineer to help us create an even better customer experience.

Yoto is a screen‑free interactive audio platform for kids. We make carefully connected audio players that kids control, with no microphones, cameras or ads. We have a catalogue of audio that inspires creative play and learning with 1,000+ titles in our card store from top creators, publishers and labels – think Disney, Marvel, Roald Dahl and Universal Music. We also create Yoto Originals like Brain Bots.

• Voted the 14th fastest‑growing private software technology company in Britain in The Sunday Times 100 Tech 2025; and named the 94th fastest‑growing company in Europe in the prestigious FT1000.
• Ranked 9th in Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in 2024; and featured in the Sifted 100 fastest‑growing startups across the UK by revenue growth.
• Featured in Bloomberg’s 25 UK startups to watch in 2023; and ranked second fastest growing tech company in the UK in the Deloitte Fast
  50.
• Named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Inventions of 2020.
• We’re over 200 employees spread across the world, and growing!

We’re on a mission to be the soundtrack of childhood, and help families on their own unique adventures. By creating products that inspire independent play, we help families discover and grow with an inspiring world of audio – and we would like you to help us achieve it!

We are a small team with a lot of experience and passion for developing connected consumer audio products, taking them from concept through to mass production. We work closely with our internal embedded OS development and product teams, key third‑party suppliers and our design and manufacturing partners. We are focused on designing reliable, easy to use, innovative and fun products using the latest technologies.

• Lead the development of hardware design for new products, ensuring alignment with project requirements and specifications.
• Manage new hardware development through the full design cycle, from concept through to mass production.
• Define and document system‑level requirements, interfaces, and components.
• Design analog and digital circuits, including schematic capture and PCB layout.
• Identify and select electronic components based on features, performance, cost, and availability.
• Develop hardware prototypes for proof‑of‑concept and testing purposes.
• Conduct thorough testing and validation of hardware designs, addressing performance, reliability, and compliance.
• Collaborate closely with cross‑functional teams, Yoto OS developers, suppliers and manufacturing teams.
• Ensure hardware designs comply with relevant industry standards and regulatory requirements, working with test labs and regulatory bodies.
• Create and maintain detailed hardware design documentation, including specifications, schematics, and design verification reports.
• Continuous improvement, identifying areas for improvement in current and new designs, design processes and methodologies.
• Implement best practices to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the hardware design team.
• New technology R&D, staying abreast of the latest technologies and components in the field.

• Around 8+ years industry experience in hardware design, with a focus on electronic systems and circuit design.
• Experience leading new hardware product development and supporting products in mass production.
• Electronic design knowledge, applicable areas: RF wireless system (WiFi/BT/BLE), analogue and digital audio, power management including DC‑DC converters and battery charging, communication interfaces (I2C/SPI/UART/USB/SD/MMC) and EMC/ESD compliance.
• Familiarity with EDA tools including generating schematics, PCB layout and gerber data.
• Experience with prototyping, testing, and troubleshooting hardware designs.
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and the ability to work in a collaborative team environment.
• Effective communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Hands on hardware system rework and modification experience.
• Test and measurement experience including using an oscilloscope, bench PSU, current…