Embedded Electronics Engineer

About Us:

Collaborative autonomy is how self-tasking teams of machines will solve hard human problems, and HavocAI is an unquestioned leader in collaborative autonomy. We set the standard for autonomous surface vessels for a wide range of defense and commercial maritime missions. Success requires us to grow quickly, and we're looking for teammates who are passionate about solving hard problems, about pushing the envelope, and about preventing conflict and saving lives. Ambition is welcome to apply within.

Role Overview

HavocAI is seeking an Embedded Electronics Engineer to design, build, and validate the hardware that powers our autonomous systems. This role is for someone whose instinct is to reach for a schematic before a terminal, and who takes pride in building boards that work the first time - and keep working in real-world operating environments.

This role sits at the hardware layer. You will own PCB design and bring-up across three core areas: power electronics and motor drive, embedded compute and SoC integration, and the vehicle electronics backbone that ties systems together. Software teams will own the stack above the hardware abstraction layer; your job is to ensure the hardware beneath it is fast, reliable, manufacturable, and ready for whatever platform comes next.

What You'll Own
Power Electronics & Motor Drive

• Design and build electronic speed controllers and motor drive stages for brushless actuators across aerial, ground, and novel platforms
• Select and validate FETs, gate drivers, shunt resistors, and passives to meet current handling, thermal, and efficiency targets
• Implement low-level motor drive firmware, including FOC and BLDC commutation, on embedded MCUs as needed to validate and characterize hardware designs
• Conduct power stage characterization, including efficiency curves, thermal mapping, and protection behavior under fault and overload conditions
• Design telemetry signal chains for current sense, temperature, RPM, and related vehicle data
• Define electrical interfaces to upstream systems
• Work across voltage domains and platform types, adapting designs to the power budget, operating environment, and form factor of each vehicle

Embedded Compute & SoC Hardware

• Design and bring up custom carrier boards and daughter boards for SoC and System-on-Module platforms across HavocAI's vehicle family
• Own schematic capture and PCB layout for mixed-signal boards integrating power, high-speed digital interfaces, and analog sensor chains
• Define and validate electrical interfaces between compute hardware and vehicle subsystems, including power rails, reset sequencing, SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, PCIe, and USB
• Conduct board bring-up and electrical validation, including rail profiling, signal integrity checks, and fault isolation
• Iterate hardware through DFM review, coordinate with contract manufacturers, and own the board revision process

Vehicle Electronics Integration

• Design the electrical architecture that connects power, actuation, sensing, and compute subsystems across diverse vehicle types
• Specify and select connectors, cabling, EMI mitigation components, and protection circuits appropriate to each operating environment and vibration profile
• Define and document electrical interfaces between hardware and the software teams building above it, including pin definitions, timing constraints, and power requirements
• Support field validation and hardware debugging through flight test, drive test, and field deployment
• Contribute to hardware design standards and participate in reviews of other engineers' work

What We're Looking For
Core Requirements

• 4+ years of hands-on PCB design and hardware bring-up experience, including boards you personally took from schematic to validated prototype
• Proficiency with a professional EDA tool such as KiCad, Altium, Cadence, or equivalent
• Demonstrated depth in at least one of the following areas: power electronics / motor drive design or mixed-signal embedded compute hardware
• Strong understanding of PCB layout fundamentals for switching power, high-speed digital interfaces, and analog signal integrity
• Hands-on characterization experience using oscilloscopes, power analyzers, thermal cameras, bench power supplies, and related lab equipment
• Ability to write enough C/C++ to validate your own hardware, including register map tests and basic drivers
• Comfort operating in a fast-moving engineering environment where hardware quickly moves from prototype to field use

Highly Valued Experience

• ESC design, including FET selection, gate drive design, shoot-through protection, and motor commutation characterization
• SoC or SoM carrier board design, including USB3, PCIe, MIPI, power sequencing, and rail supervision
• CAN bus hardware design and termination; experience with DroneCAN, CANopen, or CAN FD is a plus
• Multi-layer PCB layout with controlled impedance, via stitching, and careful ground plane management
• Experience taking boards through DFM, DFA, and contract manufacturing production
• Inertial and environmental sensor integration, including IMUs, barometers, magnetometers, analog front-end design, and layout best practices
• Battery management and protection circuit design for LiPo or Li-ion packs

Transferable Backgrounds We Value

We are especially interested in candidates with experience in:

• Power electronics for EV drivetrains, industrial motor control, or robotics actuators
• Avionics hardware design for manned aviation, unmanned systems, or aerospace platforms
• Mixed-signal PCB design for instrumentation, industrial control, or test equipment
• Hardware engineering at a startup or defense contractor where you owned the full board lifecycle
• Research prototyping environments where hardware was actually built, tested, deployed, and iterated

Success in This Role

A successful Embedded Electronics Engineer at HavocAI will be able to take ambiguous platform needs and turn them into robust, field-ready electronics. You will be expected to move quickly, make sound technical tradeoffs, validate your own designs, and stay close to the systems as they move from bench to vehicle to field deployment.

You should be comfortable owning the full lifecycle of your hardware - from architecture and schematic capture through layout, bring-up, testing, manufacturing feedback, and operational support.
Benefits:

• 100% Employer paid Health, Dental and Vision Insurance for you and your families
• Life Insurance (Employer Paid)
• Ability to participate in the companies 401k program (Matching)
• Unlimited PTO policy with an enforced 2 week minimum
• Equity Package
• Work / Home Office Stipend
• Global Entry
• 16 Week Paid Parental Leave
• Monthly Health and Wellness Stipend

Our Values:

• Innovation: We are driven to break new ground. Every day presents an opportunity to challenge the status quo, think boldly, and deliver advanced solutions that transform the future of defense technology.
• Integrity: We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards, ensuring transparency, accountability, and trust in all our actions and partnerships.
• Mission-Driven: We are focused on achieving impactful outcomes that align with our core mission-protecting lives through innovation.
• Forward-Leaning: We continuously seek out new opportunities and remain at the forefront of technological advancements. We embrace change and anticipate the challenges of tomorrow with confidence and creativity.
• Ownership of All Tasks: At HavocAI, no problem is too complex or too trivial. We believe that greatness comes from tackling the hardest challenges, but also in handling the smallest, sometimes thankless, tasks with the same level of commitment and care.
• Servant Leadership: We lead by serving others, whether it's supporting our employees, partners, or the broader community. Empowering those around us is key to achieving long-term success and making a lasting impact.

HavocAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.