Responsibilities
- Lead and develop the hardware, electrical, and embedded software engineering craft for complex data capture systems across multiple RL programs
- Own the design and evolution of large-scale capture rigs, including multi-camera arrays, structured lighting systems, hardware synchronization, high-bandwidth data pipelines, and on-site storage infrastructure
- Manage a team of mechanical, electrical, and firmware engineers; mentor, grow, and develop leaders and individual contributors
- Represent and advocate for the hardware engineering craft by developing the right culture, processes, and people to accomplish the team's work
- Own the team's systems for designing, simulating, prototyping, and testing capture hardware
- Drive architecture and design reviews for hardware and firmware across device programs
- Provide individual technical contributions by implementing electro-mechanical and firmware solutions on critical projects
- Recruit engineering talent for open roles on the team
- Develop the overall data collection strategy with program leaders and stakeholders across Codec Avatars, Input, and Health
- Translate research roadmaps into collection plans: system requirements, site needs, and operational capacity targets
- Own the operational capacity of data collection sites across North America, including planning, deployment, and sustained operations
- Build and manage site operations teams (technicians, coordinators, contingent workers) executing capture protocols
- Drive vendor and partner engagement to scale collection efforts
- Manage hardware inventory, logistics, maintenance, and equipment standards across distributed sites
- Define and implement operational processes including privacy/data compliance and participant safety
- Manage operational budgets and resource allocation across programs
- Serve as liaison between researchers, engineering, operations, and software teams across programs
- Coordinate complex projects with key partners, managing team allocation, schedules, milestones, and delivery
- Influence leaders and key partners to gain alignment, build virtual teams, and accomplish cross-team goals
- Drive operational improvements through measurement, feedback loops, and continuous iteration
- Balance priorities across Codec Avatars, Input, and Health programs with competing timelines and resource needs
Minimum Qualifications
- BS or higher in Mechanical, Electrical, or Systems Engineering (or equivalent experience)
- 12+ years experience as a hardware engineer working across one or more of: electrical, mechanical, systems engineering, and embedded software or a similar domain
- 5+ years of experience as a people manager with a track record in recruiting and developing teams
- Direct experience shipping consumer hardware or working in technology R&D organizations
- Demonstrated expertise with complex data capture systems, including multi-camera rigs, lighting systems, hardware synchronization, and high-bandwidth data pipelines
- Experience with compute platform selection, system architecture, and integration for data capture or similar technical systems
- Experience operating or managing multi-site technical operations (labs, data collection, manufacturing, or similar)
- Experience leading design development from schematic capture, PCB layout through assembly
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with AR/VR systems and motion capture systems
- Experience working with CM and EMS partners in design, manufacture, testing, and delivery of hardware solutions
- Experience in developing data collection or research operations strategies across multiple sites and programs
- Experience with embedded computing and wearable devices
- Background in health/medical devices, input devices, or biometric sensing systems
- Experience with digital circuit design and communications protocols (I2C, UART, SPI, USB, MIPI, I2S)
- Experience with camera systems, structured/controlled lighting, time synchronization (PTP/genlock), and high-speed data ingest/storage architectures
- Experience managing distributed teams and vendor partnerships across multiple geographies
- Experience with 3D design modeling (NX or SolidWorks) and physical prototyping
- Experience with high-bandwidth data transport (10 Gb/s/25 Gb/s/100 Gb/s Ethernet, PCIe, NVMe, high-speed serial interfaces)
- Experience with privacy and data compliance protocols for participant studies
$208,000/year to $289,000/year + bonus + equity + benefits
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