What are the responsibilities and job description for the Hardware Support Engineer position at Dexmate?
About The Role
Dexmate is building AI-powered humanoid robots for industrial and research applications. As a Hardware Support Engineer, you will be a core part of a small, fast-moving hardware team — responsible for hands-on debugging, failure analysis, and maintenance of our robot platform, spanning internal development all the way through to customer support.
This role sits at the intersection of hardware and software. You'll be expected to work across both: running root cause failure analysis on a failed actuator or PCBA in the morning, then tracing a communication or network fault on a deployed system in the afternoon. You'll also play a key role in building out our failure analysis processes and capabilities as we scale.
You don't need to be a specialist in every area, but you do need a methodical approach to problems, a willingness to learn, and the ability to communicate your findings clearly to both engineering teams and customers.
Day-to-Day Activities
Dexmate is building AI-powered humanoid robots for industrial and research applications. As a Hardware Support Engineer, you will be a core part of a small, fast-moving hardware team — responsible for hands-on debugging, failure analysis, and maintenance of our robot platform, spanning internal development all the way through to customer support.
This role sits at the intersection of hardware and software. You'll be expected to work across both: running root cause failure analysis on a failed actuator or PCBA in the morning, then tracing a communication or network fault on a deployed system in the afternoon. You'll also play a key role in building out our failure analysis processes and capabilities as we scale.
You don't need to be a specialist in every area, but you do need a methodical approach to problems, a willingness to learn, and the ability to communicate your findings clearly to both engineering teams and customers.
Day-to-Day Activities
- Troubleshoot and identify root causes of hardware and system failures on our robot platform, including power distribution, embedded compute, communication buses, actuators, and sensor subsystems
- Perform end-to-end failure analysis at component (e.g., PCBAs, actuators, connectors), module (e.g., hands, battery packs), and system (robot) levels
- Use bench equipment — oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analyzers, power supplies, and inspection tools — to characterize signals, isolate failures, and validate fixes
- Read schematics and block diagrams to understand circuit behavior and help identify where things are going wrong
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Mechanical, Electrical, Software/Firmware, and Manufacturing teams to identify and implement corrective actions
- Support bring-up and testing of new hardware revisions: verify power sequencing, communication interfaces, and peripheral behavior
- Debug issues across the robot system, including compute modules, motor controllers, and camera systems
- Act as a technical point of contact for customer-reported issues — reproduce faults, narrow down root causes, and communicate findings clearly to both the engineering team and the customer
- Write and maintain clear repair runbooks, failure analysis reports, and troubleshooting guides that other team members can follow
- Help establish and improve failure analysis processes, best practices, and lab capabilities to minimize time from failure identification to corrective action
- Supervise and drive supplier failure analyses when issues trace back to vendor components
- Work closely with engineers to iterate on hardware during the prototyping phase, helping move designs from early bring-up toward stable, repeatable assemblies
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, Materials Science, or a related technical field — or equivalent hands-on experience
- 2–5 years of experience in hardware failure analysis, field service, test engineering, or hardware debug, preferably in robotics, automotive, automation, or consumer electronics environments
- Real-world product development or failure analysis experience in at least two relevant areas such as PCBAs, battery cells/packs, harnesses/connectors, metals, plastics, or actuators/moving parts
- Hands-on experience building, testing, debugging, or analyzing failures in electronic or electromechanical systems
- Understanding of common hardware failure modes and mechanisms — such as fracture (overload vs. fatigue), solder cracking, delamination, contamination, and corrosion
- Ability to read schematics and electrical block diagrams
- Experience using bench tools: oscilloscope, multimeter, power supply, or logic analyzer
- Some familiarity with serial communication protocols such as CAN, Ethernet, Ethercat, I²C, SPI, or UART
- Comfortable working in a Linux environment at the command line
- Strong written communication — you'll be writing failure analysis reports, runbooks, and corrective action documentation, not just fixing things
- Experience with NVIDIA Jetson platforms or embedded Linux bring-up
- Experience with IP networking and Ethernet-based embedded systems
- PCB rework experience, including cable assembly and technically challenging rework
- Familiarity with PCB schematic or layout tools such as Altium
- Experience with mechanical CAD tools (e.g., CATIA, SolidWorks) for reviewing designs
- Experience with Instron or similar material testing systems
- Prior customer-facing technical support or field service experience
- Experience working with contract manufacturers or managing supplier quality
- Background in robotics, automation, or electromechanical systems