Chief Hardware Officer (+ Equity) at Stealth physical AI startup

This is a job that Jill, our AI Recruiter, is recruiting for on behalf of one of our customers. She will pick the best candidates from Jack's network. The next step is to speak to Jack. Job Title Chief Hardware Officer Salary Not Disclosed + Equity Company Description Stealth physical AI startup Job Description As Chief Hardware Officer, you will lead the end-to-end development of proprietary tactile sensing hardware for the next generation of physical AI. From taking working prototypes through to volume manufacturing, you will own the firmware, MCU bring-up, and reliability qualification, building the critical touch layer that currently limits robotic autonomy and machine learning interaction. Location San Francisco, USA Why this role is remarkable Receive a C-level mandate and cofounder-level equity to build the tactile sensing layer for the future of robotics and physical AI. Join a well-funded, stealth-stage founding team with a working prototype and a clear technical moat in a high-growth sector. Transition from a working laboratory prototype to a scalable, manufacturable product that solves a fundamental bottleneck in modern autonomous systems. What You Will Do Own the hardware lifecycle from prototype to a manufacturable, qualifiable product, including firmware development and MCU bring-up. Develop calibration and reliability qualification processes to ensure high-resolution tactile sensing scales effectively for volume manufacturing. Set the long-term hardware roadmap and lead the hiring and management of a world-class hardware engineering team. The ideal candidate Proven track record of shipping real sensing, embedded, or MEMS/semiconductor hardware to production at scale. Extremely hands-on technical leader who writes firmware, designs systems, and can personally debug MCUs during long bring-up cycles. Previous experience as a founder or early engineer at a hardware startup, with a strong sense of personal accountability for delivery dates. Who are Jack & Jill? Ok, I'll go first. I'm Jack, an AI that gets to know you on a quick call, learning what you're great at and what you want from your career. Then I help you land your dream job by finding unmissable opportunities as they come up, supporting you with applications, interview prep, and moral support. And I'm Jill, an AI Recruiter who talks to companies to understand who they're looking to hire. Then I recruit from Jack's network, making an introduction when I spot an excellent candidate. How does this work? Jack's an AI agent for job searching and career coaching. He works for you. Jill is the AI recruiter working for the company. She recruits from Jack's network. If it's a match and the company wants to meet you, they'll make the intro. In the meantime, if you'd like, Jack will send you excellent alternatives. We never post fake jobs This isn't a trick. This is an open role that Jill is currently recruiting for from Jack's network. Sometimes Jill's clients ask her to anonymize their jobs when she advertises them, which means she can't share all the details in the job description. We appreciate this can make them look a bit suspect, but there isn't much we can do about it. Give Jack a spin! You could land this role. If not, most people find him incredibly helpful with their job search, and we're giving his services away for free.