Principal Electrical Engineer (Hardware Design)

About this role

<h3><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">PRINCIPAL ELECTRICAL ENGINEER (HARDWARE DESIGN)</span></h3> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span data-olk-copy-source="MessageBody">Freeform builds AI-native manufacturing systems that unify software, hardware, and physics to produce industrial-scale parts at the speed of human ideation. By treating manufacturing as a single integrated system, we unlock a new era of innovation where complex hardware is designed, built, and scaled without limits.</span></p> <p>As a Principal Electrical Engineer at Freeform, you will play an integral role in the design and development of custom electronics and compute systems that bring our AI-native metal 3D printing factory systems to life. You will solve challenging problems in fields such as high-performance compute, high speed communications, embedded hardware, motion control, autonomous robotic systems, and much more. You will use a first principles approach to solving problems and tackling new areas within electrical engineering that you may not have directly worked on before. The ideal candidate is capable of running projects from cradle to grave, acting as a technical lead, and has the ability to work effectively with other engineering disciplines.</p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">3D printing experience is not required to be successful here - rather we look for smart, motivated, collaborative engineers who love solving hard problems and creating amazing technology!</span></p> <p><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FeB-xBymjf4?si=9_wmo21HNDTmDXK1" width="560" height="315"></iframe></span></p> <p><strong><span data-contrast="auto">Responsibilities:</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}">&nbsp;</span></p> <ul> <li>Rapidly design, develop and test highly reliable electronics and compute systems that enable complex autonomous systems to perform reliability, repeatedly, and scalable&nbsp;</li> <li>Serve as the senior engineer on the team, driving technical direction, electrical architecture, product requirements, component selection, analysis, schematic capture, prototyping, bring-up, debugging, documentation, productization, manufacturing, and testing</li> <li>Challenge assumptions and learn new design approaches</li> <li>Drive component selection, analysis, schematic capture, prototyping, bring-up, debugging, documentation, manufacturing, and test</li> <li>Hands-on debugging of the unexpected via the use of laboratory test equipment, custom instrumentation, and testing setups</li> <li>Model and simulate circuit designs for analysis and performance</li> <li>Act as a technical lead, driving schedule and ensuring a continuous rate of innovation</li> </ul> <p><strong><span data-contrast="auto">Basic Qualifications:</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}">&nbsp;</span></p> <ul> <li>Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or similar engineering discipline</li> <li>15+ years of professional experience designing and delivering complex electrical hardware</li> <li>Broad electrical engineering background; well versed in electrical engineering fundamentals and comfortable taking a first-principles approach to solving problems</li> <li>Experience operating as a technical lead and system owner, responsible for architectural decisions, execution quality, and technical accountability across the full lifecycle</li> </ul> <p><strong><span data-contrast="auto">Nice to Have:</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}">&nbsp;</span></p> <ul> <li>Advanced degree (Master's or PhD) in electrical engineering</li> <li>Experience with heterogeneous compute environments, including FPGA, GPU, and mixed architecture systems, with the ability to make thoughtful tradeoffs across performance, latency, and system complexity.</li> <li>Experience with sensors, high speed cameras/imaging systems, and similar physical telemetry systems</li> <li>Experience with embedded microcontroller design and firmware</li> <li>Experience with high-speed data acquisition systems, high-accuracy motion systems, high-speed scanning systems, optomechanical assemblies, and complex electromechanical systems</li> <li>Familiarity with industrial automation technologies and robotics</li> </ul> <p><strong><span data-contrast="auto">Location:</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}">&nbsp;</span></p> <ul> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="4" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"> <p>Based in Hawthorne, our vertically integrated facility brings technology development, R&amp;D, and production together under one roof. We operate at the center of LA’s deep tech ecosystem, surrounded by some of the most ambitious hardware innovation happening anywhere in the country.</p> <span data-teams="true"><span id="message-body-1771454273221" class="fui-ChatMessage__body r7802u9 ___vfhe6q0 f10pi13n ftqa4ok f2hkw1w f8hki3x f1d2448m f1bjia2o ffh67wi f1j6vpng f1pniga2 f987i1v f1ffjurs f15bsgw9 f14e48fq f18yb2kv fd6o370 ffwy5si f3znvyf f57olzd f4stah7 f480a47 fs1por5 fk6fouc figsok6 fkhj508 f19n0e5 f9ijwd5 ffzz00n f1ozlkrg f1o0qvyv f9ggezi f1xp5gbu f150uoa4 ffyari3 f16xq7d1 fo7qwa0 fxowb0n f11ghf3q f13aoclr flypziy f10kwr27 fquw1qa fftr39l f13lathq f15hsm81 f2ss68y ffb60jq f8nuap2 f13nk4fk f7jacry fq08z5q fd9af6s fr74w9q fcl9uv6 f13sm7pj f1u6qqly f16wpxbl faim3u9 f6cs3qo fa2w2z3 fd39nx6 f10gn8j9 frcqmxy f1w9ws4k f1ddxkqj fd10euv fvuz61 f1nbc6gw"><span id="content-1771454273221