What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Electrical Engineer position at Familiar Machines & Magic?
Company Overview
Familiar Machines & Magic is a well-funded, new embodied AI and robotics startup based outside of Boston. Our founding team is Colin Angle (founder and former CEO of iRobot), Ira Renfrew (former CPO of Outrider), and Chris Jones (former CTO of iRobot). We are pioneering an exciting new category of home robot in the health and wellness space. Embodied and agentic AI are central enablers to our product vision.
Role Description:
We’re looking for a Senior Electrical Engineer with strong consumer electronics experience to design, prototype, and deliver the electronics that power our robots. You’ll take ownership of key subsystems, from audio interfaces to sensor modules and power delivery, and work across disciplines to bring designs from concept into mass production. This is a highly hands-on role where your background in consumer hardware will help ensure our robots are as dependable, safe, and delightful as the best consumer products on the market. This role is open to a full-time permanent hire, a full-time consultant or a part time consultant but requires attendance at our office in Woburn MA.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design and develop PCBAs for sensors, actuators, audio, and power systems.
- Prototype, bring up, and debug hardware through all stages of development — from benchtop to fully integrated robots.
- Apply your consumer electronics experience to ensure designs are reliable, manufacturable, and compliant with EMC, ESD, and safety standards.
- Collaborate with mechanical and firmware engineers to deliver compact, consumer-grade hardware that balances performance, cost, and usability.
- Work closely on audio, microphones, and human interface systems to create intuitive user interactions.
- Define and execute test and validation plans for both boards and integrated systems, using automation where practical.
- Support manufacturing readiness through DFM reviews, test fixture development, and collaboration with vendors/CMs.
- Participate in failure analysis and reliability testing, ensuring consumer-grade robustness.
Preferred Qualifications:
- BSEE or higher, with 5 years of experience developing consumer electronics from prototype to production.
- Proven experience with mixed-signal design, power regulation, and high-speed digital interfaces (USB, Ethernet, PCIe, MIPI, etc.).
- Strong background in audio systems, microphones, speakers, or other human interaction interfaces.
- Proficiency with PCB design tools (Altium, or equivalent).
- Hands-on skills in board bring-up, debug, and validation with lab tools (oscilloscopes, power supplies, spectrum analyzers, etc.).
- Experience working with compliance requirements (EMC/EMI, ESD, safety).
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup and collaborate across hardware, firmware, and product teams.
- Experience in robotics hardware (motor drivers, battery management, distributed sensing).
- Familiarity with embedded firmware (C/C ) or scripting (Python) for test automation.
- Experience working with contract manufacturers and consumer hardware supply chains.
- Knowledge of Creo, SolidWorks or similar for ECAD-MCAD integration.
Join Us:
If you’re passionate about creating innovative cutting-edge robotic systems for consumer products, and excited to join a fast-moving hardware team where you’ll see your designs directly applied to our robots we’d love to hear from you. Be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, building a first-of-its-kind consumer robotics product with direct real-world impact.