Director, Hardware Engineering

About the Role

We are looking for a Director of Hardware Engineering to lead and grow our Hardware organization. This role will report directly to the CTO. In this role, you will set the technical strategy for our hardware roadmap, expand our team, drive engineering excellence, and partner closely with Product and Engineering leadership to deliver impactful solutions that meet our highest standards for quality, cost, and timeline. You will be both a hands-on leader and a strategic partner, accountable for the performance and development of your team and the technical output of the organization. This position will be full time on site in our Sunnyvale location. This position is not eligible for current Visa sponsorship.

You will…

• Expand and lead a high-performing Hardware Engineering organization, setting clear expectations for excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Coach, mentor, and develop team members within their current roles and across adjacent teams, using 1:1s to establish individual growth goals and succession plans.
• Create a supportive, high trust environment where engineers feel empowered to raise issues early and take smart risks, while proactively removing organizational and technical blockers that slow the team down
• Lead the hardware technical strategy for the product area, ensuring alignment from top-level priorities down to tactical engineering decisions, and advocating for engineering practices that advance our product goals.
• Oversee hardware projects end-to-end to ensure key requirements are met on time and on budget, with strong consideration of downstream deliverables — driving the right trade-offs between speed, quality, and cost.
• Identify and implement improvements to how the Hardware Engineering team operates, and recommend changes across the broader organization to increase the performance and speed of our product releases.
• Partner closely with peer Product leads and the extended leadership team to co-develop vision, strategy, and ways of working across Hardware and Product.
• Serve as a key member of the Engineering technical leadership team, helping shape broader engineering strategy, building cross-functional relationships, and contributing to growing the organization.

You have…

• 10+ years of experience in hardware or mechanical engineering, with at least 4 years in a people leadership role managing teams of engineers.
• Demonstrated track record of delivering multiple complex hardware products from concept through production, with accountability for schedule, cost, and quality.
• Strong technical depth in hardware engineering disciplines (e.g., mechanical, electrical, systems); ability to engage credibly at both strategic and detailed levels.
• Proven experience developing engineering talent and building high-performing teams through coaching, mentoring, and organizational design.
• Exceptional cross-functional communication and collaboration skills; ability to influence and align stakeholders at all levels.
• Strategic thinker who can translate business goals into clear technical direction and drive execution with urgency and discipline.
• Experience identifying and driving process improvements that meaningfully increase engineering velocity and quality.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a consumer hardware, advanced manufacturing, robotics, defense, or deep-tech product company.
• Familiarity with ITAR regulations and compliance
• Familiarity with NPI (New Product Introduction) processes and managing hardware at scale.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, product-led organization with tight cross-functional dependencies.
• Exposure to and passion for advancing engineering practices, tooling, and design methodologies.

You do not need to match every listed expectation to apply for this position. Here at Carbon, we know that diverse perspectives foster the innovation we need to be successful, and we are committed to building a team that encompasses a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and skills.

At Carbon, we look at the person holistically and carefully consider a wide range of factors when determining salary. The compensation bracket for this position is $ 277,600 - $416,400 (per year). In order to maintain equitable internal pay practices, we aim to hire new employees near the midpoint of $347,000, taking into account your experience, work location, certifications, and the unique skills you bring to the role. If you are not based in our Redwood City office, the range above will be adjusted for the geographical differential associated with your actual work location.

For more information on how we modify your pay based on your location, please refer to our geographic differentials chart.

Carbon also offers to our eligible employees a comprehensive total rewards package that includes equity, benefits, and time off programs. For details on our total rewards package, visit https://www.carbon3d.com/about/life-at-carbon.

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