Embedded System Engineer

Founding Embedded Systems EngineerWe’re hiring an Embedded Systems Engineer to help turn Sphinx into a true mass-market product.Sphinx (30-day Kickstarter campaign) is building a new way to feed cats. We’ve developed a system that stores, dispenses, and warms fresh wet food using a patented pod format, while adapting to each cat’s behavior in real time. It solves a real problem: spoilage, waste, and inconsistent feeding.In 30 days we sold over 1,600 units (~$540k), built a waitlist of 45,000+ people, and partnered with Rayne Nutrition and Savage Cat Food. Now we’re focused on taking what works and making it reliable, manufacturable, and scalable.The roleWe’re looking for someone who can own the entire embedded system—from electronics to firmware to real-world behavior. This is not a narrow EE role or a pure firmware role. You’ll be responsible for how the product actually works in the real world: how motors, sensors, power systems, and control logic all interact inside a consumer device that runs every day in a messy kitchen environment.You’ll design and debug across the full stack:PCBs and component selectionFirmware and control systemsSensors (position, detection, identification)Actuation (motors, mechanisms, thermal systems)Power and system stabilityYou’ll work closely with mechanical engineering, but you’re ultimately responsible for making the system behave reliably, not just function.What we care aboutThe strongest signal for us is that you’ve shipped real hardware.Not just prototypes—products that have lived in customers’ homes at scale (ideally 10,000+ units). You’ve seen things fail in the field and had to fix them. You understand how decisions affect cost, manufacturability, and long-term reliability.You’re comfortable moving between hardware and firmware. You can bring up boards, write embedded code, debug noisy signals, and reason about system-level behavior. You don’t need to be perfect in every domain, but you need to be able to own the system end-to-end.What you’ll work onYour job is to turn a working prototype into a robust, production-ready system.That includes:Making electromechanical systems reliable over thousands of cyclesDesigning sensing and control strategies that handle real-world variabilityDetecting and recovering from failure modes (jams, misreads, power issues)Ensuring stable operation across motors, sensors, and thermal componentsDesigning systems that can be assembled and tested quickly at scaleDriving cost reduction without compromising reliabilityThis is less about any single mechanism and more about how the entire system behaves under real-world conditions.Who this is a great fit forYou’ve likely worked on consumer hardware, appliances, robotics, or similar systems that combine electronics, firmware, and mechanical components.You’re hands-on. You debug with a scope, not just logs. You think about noise, tolerances, and edge cases. You care about what happens after months of real use, not just what works in a demo.You naturally ask:What happens when this fails?How do we detect it?How do we recover?How does this get built and tested at scale?Why joinYou’ll own the core system of a category-defining product. This is a small, fast-moving team where your decisions directly impact reliability, cost, and user experience.If you like solving hard, real-world problems and building something tangible, we should talk.