Lead Electrical Engineer

What you’ll do

We're seeking a Lead Electrical Engineer to join our growing team and anchor our autonomous transport initiatives. In this role, you will own the electrical architecture for next-generation on-road autonomous vehicles, guiding hardware development from early prototyping to high-volume scaling. You will serve as a key technical leader, bridging the gap between physical PCB design and low-level firmware to ensure our autonomous platforms are safe, redundant, and highly responsive.

• Technical leadership: own the overarching electrical strategy for vehicle drive-by-wire and carrier boards. Mentor junior engineers, drive design reviews, and establish rigorous standards for hardware development.
• Vehicle integration: Analyze and document CAN bus, CAN FD, direct signaling, and vehicle-specific communication protocols on passenger and commercial platforms.
• Drive-by-wire development: Design and implement custom circuit boards for electronic and actuator-based vehicle operation, collaborating cross-team on firmware, wiring, and connectors.
• Carrier board design & firmware integration: Design multi-layer carrier boards for compute units handling real-time control systems, including high-speed differential signaling and mixed-signal circuits.
• Hardware testing: Design, build, and support testing processes and hardware test apparatus for validation and troubleshooting.
• Integration & deployment: Support fleet installations and troubleshoot hardware/firmware issues at testing and deployment sites.

What we’re looking for

• Required Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience with a proven track record of leading complex electrical engineering projects.
• Strong PCB design experience with multi-layer boards and high-speed signaling.
• Deep familiarity with embedded systems, firmware architecture, and real-time control applications.
• Familiarity with common automotive communication protocols (CAN, LIN, Ethernet).
• Hands-on experience with hardware testing, validation, and debugging tools (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers).
• Ability to lead and thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative startup environment.

Why join us

At Atoms, you’ll work on one of the defining challenges of our time - bringing automation into the physical world to drive real, lasting impact. We exist to uncover valuable unknown truths and turn them into progress, which means constantly pushing beyond what’s known and building what doesn’t yet exist. The work is ambitious and often challenging, but it’s grounded in a shared sense of purpose and a team committed to seeing it through together. Our work only matters if it serves others, and we know that meaningful progress depends on the trust of the people we serve and the strength of our team—so we invest in both, creating an environment where you can do your best work and grow.

What else you need to know

This role is based in our San Francisco office. Atoms is a company driven by invention and continuous change - we are constantly reimagining our industries, building new products, and refining how we operate. We do our best work together. That’s why all of our office-based teams work onsite, five days a week.

The base salary range for this role is $195,000 - $246,000 per year.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package. You may also be eligible for equity awards.

Benefits Summary (USA Full-Time Exempt Employees):

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account / Health Savings Account Options
• 401(k)
• Equity
• Sick Time, Unlimited Flexible Time Off, and Paid Holidays
• Paid Parental Leave
• Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Plan
• Team lunch in our SoMa office every Tuesday and Thursday

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