Electrical Engineer – Robotic Hand/Gripper (Vancouver)
Humanoid is the first AI and robotics company in the UK, creating the world’s most advanced, reliable, commercially scalable, and safe humanoid robots. Our first humanoid robot HMND 01 is a next-gen labour automation unit, providing highly efficient services across various use cases, starting with industrial applications.
We are looking for a Senior Electrical Design Engineer to join our team based in Vancouver, CA.
Our Mission
At Humanoid we strive to create the world’s leading, commercially scalable, safe, and advanced humanoid robots that seamlessly integrate into daily life and amplify human capacity.
Vision
In a world where artificial intelligence opens up new horizons, our faith in its potential unveils a new outlook where, together, humans and machines build a new future filled with knowledge, inspiration, and incredible discoveries. The development of a functional humanoid robot underpins an era of abundance and well-being where poverty will disappear, and people will be able to choose what they want to do. We believe that providing a universal basic income will eventually be a true evolution of our civilization.
Solution
As the demands on our built environment rise, labour shortages loom. With the world’s workforce increasingly moving away from undesirable tasks, the manufacturing, construction, and logistics industries critical to our daily lives are left exposed. By deploying our general-purpose humanoid robots in environments deemed hazardous or monotonous, we envision a future where human well-being is safeguarded while closing the gaps in critical global labour needs.
About the Role
We are seeking a passionate and highly skilled Electrical Engineer to join our team developing the next generation of robotic hand technologies. You will play a key role in designing, developing, and integrating the electrical systems that enable dexterous, precise, and reliable robotic hand operation. From high-performance sensor arrays and compact motor control to power management and embedded systems, your contributions will directly impact the performance and capabilities of our robotic hand solutions across industrial, medical, and service applications.
What You’ll Do
- Design and develop electrical systems that power and control robotic hands, including miniature BLDC, servo, and tendon-driven actuators, along with haptic feedback mechanisms.
- Develop high-fidelity sensor interfaces for tactile arrays, force-torque sensors, encoders, and proximity sensors to enable fine manipulation and adaptive grasping.
- Apply strong circuit analysis fundamentals to review electrical designs, conduct failure analysis, and troubleshoot complex electronics, with an emphasis on high-reliability in robotic manipulation systems.
- Create detailed schematics and PCB layouts using Altium, ensuring designs meet stringent performance, reliability, and manufacturability standards, including EMI/EMC compliance for sensitive robotic hand applications.
- Write embedded firmware in C and HDL to program STM32 microcontrollers, NXP SoCs, and Xilinx FPGAs, supporting real-time control loops, sensor data acquisition, and communication protocols.
- Implement communication protocols optimized for robotic hands, including EtherCAT, CANopen, SPI, and I2C, ensuring deterministic, low-latency, and fault-tolerant operation.
- Develop and manage power regulation and distribution systems tailored to the compact form factor of robotic hands, including switching power supplies, battery management systems (BMS), and short-circuit protection.
- Perform hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, system validation, and debugging using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers, and spectrum analyzers.
- Collaborate with mechanical engineers and software developers to achieve seamless electrical-mechanical integration, including sensor alignment, joint calibration, and thermal management.
- Ensure designs comply with relevant safety standards and certifications (e.g., IEC 61508, ISO 13849, UL/CE) for safety-critical robotic hand applications in industrial and healthcare environments.
We’re Looking For
We are looking for talented candidates with a solid foundation in electrical engineering and experience in precision mechatronic or robotic systems. While you don’t need experience in all areas, expertise in the following will be valuable:
- BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a closely related field.
- Proven experience in precision actuator driver design, specifically for miniature BLDC motors, servo motors, or tendon-driven actuators used in robotic hands or prosthetic devices.
- Proficiency in high-speed data communication protocols such as EtherCAT, CANopen, SPI, and I2C, optimized for real-time sensor-actuator communication.
- Experience developing power regulation and distribution systems, including short-circuit protection, switching regulators, and efficient power management systems for compact electromechanical devices.
- Strong experience with PCB design tools such as Altium, focusing on high-density, multi-layer PCB layouts and design for manufacturing (DFM).
- Embedded programming experience in C, HDL, Verilog, and VHDL for STM32, NXP, and Xilinx platforms.
- Working knowledge of circuit simulation, signal integrity analysis, and EMC/EMI mitigation strategies.
- Hands-on experience using Python, C++, MATLAB, or LabVIEW for automated testing, data analysis, and hardware validation.
- Experience integrating tactile sensors, force-torque sensors, and position encoders for dexterous manipulation tasks.
- Familiarity with Linux kernel development, including device driver development and real-time patches, is a strong plus.
- Understanding of robotics safety standards and experience designing safety-rated control systems (e.g., IEC 61508, ISO 13849) is highly desirable.
- Knowledge of SolidWorks or similar mechanical CAD tools for collaboration on electrical-mechanical interfaces.
What You’ll Work On
- Dexterous robotic hands with multi-fingered actuation, adaptive gripping, and tactile sensing, targeting industrial automation, medical prosthetics, and collaborative robotics applications.
- Precision control systems leveraging miniature BLDC/servo motors, tendon-based actuation, and haptic feedback loops to deliver human-like dexterity and manipulation capabilities.
- Advanced sensor integration and real-time embedded systems enabling responsive, safe, and adaptive robotic hand performance in dynamic environments.
What We Offer
- Competitive salary plus participation in our Stock Option Plan
- Paid vacation with adjustments based on your location to comply with local labor laws
- Travel opportunities to our London and Boston offices
- Office perks: free lunches
- Freedom to influence the product and own key initiatives
- Collaboration with top‑tier engineers, researchers, and product experts in AI and robotics
- Startup culture prioritising speed, transparency, and minimal bureaucracy.
